Orchestral Infatuation
by Ira Vehementi
Summary: Naruto's a prankster who gets expelled from his school. He's given one chance to reform at a new school, but that comes packaged with an instrument, an orchestra, and a dark eyed boy who hates his guts. Read it. Review it. :3 *ON HIATUS D:*
1. In Which Bombs are Detonated

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a while to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

A/N: Yes, this is yet another high school Naruto fanfiction. It's also my first, yay! I'll do my best to keep it uncliché, as long as you promise to review after you read, thank you very much. I'm also going to semi-apologize in advance for this, but I've already planned out half of this story, and it might seem to progress slowly. For that I'm sorry, but that's the only way I'm going to get anywhere, so you'll have to deal. : D Oh, and uhm... I realize, this chapter has hardly anything particularly bad in it. This is rated M because eventually, I'll get to the parts where I can't have it rated like, T, and I'm not into changing the rating unless it's reall necessary...

Please note: In my world, review means "constructive criticism", not you telling me how you would have written my story better. I don't necessarily have to tolerate that, but you're not going to like me very much if you grind my gears. You might not live in this world of mine, but sadly you must follow its rules when you read my fanfictions.

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **B**ombs **A**re **D**etonated **A**nd **L**ife **I**s **R**uined

"We have reason to believe that Uzumaki Naruto caused the pipe burst last week." Naruto swung his legs back and forth and imagined that the principal of his school had devil horns. Next to him, his foster father Umino Iruka fidgeted nervously.

Of course Naruto's genius plan, codenamed 'Down the Drain' by Kankuro, had worked. Why wouldn't it have? Naruto had spent days poring over the plan. The idea was simple, really. Naruto had gotten a hold of some self inflating balloons. the balloons were pretty thick, because the 'self-inflating' mechanism was acutally inside the balloon, and all you really needed to set it off was some pressure on the sides. Well, Naruto wanted to do _the greatest prank ever_ with said balloons, so he got his friends together and ended up deciding that he was going to flood the bathrooms or even better-- burst a water pipe so that no one had to come to school. He just hadn't really thought of any excuses in case he got caught. And now here he was in the principal's office. The shades were up, casting the principal's shadow across the room. The principal himself looked smug, his beady old eyes poring deep under Naruto's skin. The old man was going to do something that Naruto would regret, he was sure.

"But…how?" Iruka queried, looking over at Naruto, then back at the principal. "I mean, how do you know? What makes you think it's Naruto?" Naruto deleted the horns from his mental picture and imagined his principal chained to a rock in the middle of the sea.

"Well," The principal cleared his throat until Naruto looked up, pulling a face at the principal's overly smug expression, "the pipes were blocked off by balloons. Self inflatable balloons, the kind that you can buy at Party City." Iruka paled considerably. "I know that last week you bought many of those balloons, Mr. Umino. If I remember correctly, that Monday you had a big celebration for some reason. What was it again?"

"…Naruto's birthday… October 10th." Iruka mumbled, setting his dark eyes on the heavy wooden desk that the principal sat comfortably behind. Naruto added hungry seagulls to his mental picture.

"And the colors of those balloons were orange, weren't they?"

"Yes," Iruka agreed faintly. "They were."

"Well," The principal said, nodding his head. "Then it's safe to say that Mr. Uzumaki could have been the one to plant all of those balloons, isn't it?"

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but Iruka got there first, "Even if he did plant them, how could they all inflate at the same time? It took me forever to get one to inflate by itself, never mind…uh… how many were there?"

"Sixteen."

Iruka looked sick. "Sixteen, all at once? It couldn't have been Naruto."

"We believe that someone helped him in the end, and we'd be much obliged," Here the principal gave Naruto a very stern look, "if you would tell us who, Mr. Uzumaki."

"Dunno what you're talking about," Naruto retorted, giving the principal a cocky smirk.

"Are you sure, Mr. Uzumaki?" There was the snarky grin that Naruto had expected. In his vision, a seagull came flying down and ripped the principal's lips off. Naruto smiled.

"I'm positive." He said, nonchalantly.

"Naruto," Iruka said firmly, "did you put those balloons in the pipes?"

"I swear I didn't!" Naruto said. And that was true, since Gaara had done it. Naruto was too squeamish to put balloons into pipes, and Gaara had owed him, since Naruto only barely saved Gaara from being expelled the previous year.

"Then how did they get there?" The principal asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Maybe you've just got the wrong guy," He tried. The principal frowned as if to ask _yeah, who do you think you're kidding?_

"Mr. Uzumaki," The principal started, "We know it was you who had the balloons and you who probably planted them. Tell us who helped you and how you got them to inflate at the same time."

Naruto glared at him. "I told you, I didn't do anything."

"Then who did?"

"Well, how would I know?"

"Mr. Uzumaki. We did this all last year as well." The principal looked at Naruto over the thick rims of his glasses. "Time and time again you have said that you were innocent when you most obviously were not. What makes you think I'd believe you now?"

He needed someone to blame, that was all. Naruto needed someone else to pin the blame on. But not Gaara, since Gaara was on thin ice already and only helped in the plan because Naruto had begged him. And not Kankuro, who was the closet genius who designed the equipment that caused the balloons to detonate at once. If Sai was still around Naruto would've happily pinned the blame on him. Naruto shrugged and kicked his heels again, wondering what was on TV.

"Well, Mr. Uzumaki, you leave me no choice. You are expelled from Seishun High."

Iruka's eyes widened. "But," He started

"I'm sorry, Mr. Umino. But Mr. Uzumaki has instigated six incidents, not all of which were harmless. This was the last straw. Pack up your books and clean out your locker, Mr. Uzumaki. You will not be returning for another semester."

"That's not fair," Naruto whined, "I didn't do anything this time! You can't even blame me!"

"But we can. You can't tell me that those weren't your balloons, Mr. Uzumaki!"

Naruto cursed his love for orange and swore on his life that he would just like a normal color like blue henceforth.

The car ride home was long and quiet. Naruto counted the seconds it took for them to get home. Normally, it took about fifteen minutes roughly, which was about nine hundred seconds. But this car ride took a half hour, which was eighteen hundred seconds, and meant that Iruka was not in a good mood.

Naruto also counted how many times Iruka sighed (sixteen), how many times they stopped short at stop signs and stop lights, (twenty-seven), how many times Iruka gripped the steering wheel angrily and then released (sixty four) and how many seconds it took after they pulled into their driveway before Iruka dared to speak (two hundred, which was roughly three minutes).

"Did you do it?" Iruka asked, finally.

Naruto stared at him. _Do I really have to answer?_ He moaned to himself, hoping maybe his guardian would just drop it.

"Did you?" Iruka asked. Naruto shifted his gaze to Iruka's scar, which ran across his nose. It wasn't really much of a scar anymore, just the dark imprint of what was a scar. "Naruto!"

Naruto moaned. "Not really!" He grumbled, crossing his arms and looking defiantly out the passenger seat window. Next door, the little blind girl who Naruto sometimes played with was walking about with her dog. Naruto desperately wanted to jump out of the car and run over to her and suggest they go to the park and play a guessing game.

Iruka snapped him out of his thoughts. "How long did it take for us to get home?"

"Nine hundred seconds." Naruto replied. He wondered what all his neighbors did for a living, and where they went while he was in school.

"You had something to do with it, didn't you?"

Naruto grumbled to himself. "What makes you think I had anything to do with it?"

"Other than knowing what color the balloons were and what type they were," Iruka said, slowly, "I know you. You only count and memorize things when you're worried, Naruto. And I think you're worried about being caught."

"I am not."

"Tell me what else you counted on the way home."

Naruto muttered, "You sighed sixteen times." He paused, seeing a pile of rocks by the end of the driveway. He almost started counting those too, but he pushed that urge aside. "And you stopped wrong twenty-seven times."

"What did you do, Naruto," Iruka asked calmly. Naruto was seriously ready to kick the door down. He stared up into the sky and counted seven cumulus clouds.

"I didn't do anything." He murmured. Iruka digested this, then unlocked the car doors. Thankful, Naruto jumped out the car quickly.

"You know you're grounded," Iruka said, from inside the car. "Until you tell me the truth."

"That is the truth!" Naruto whined. He considered giving Iruka a pleading look, but the dark haired man knew Naruto too well and would see right though it. "I swear I didn't do anything!"

Iruka shook his head. "That isn't the truth." He said, coolly. "There's something you aren't telling me."

Naruto turned his attention to the rocks again. There were ten.

* * *

If it was possible for Naruto to sit in his room all day without being bothered, he would have gladly sat up there until it was time for dinner, since his room was usually quite un-boring. But when Iruka seriously grounded him, he lost privileges on _everything_. For example, he couldn't listen to his music, he wasn't allowed to watch TV, he was banned from his computer, and most of his manga was taken away. He wasn't even allowed to have ramen (but he had a secret stash in case a time like this ever popped up). So at the moment, Naruto was very bored. He desperately wished he could invite Gaara over or go somewhere, but that was impossible. All he had left was the bookcase that was shoved against one of the walls, and he wasn't interested in Iruka's child psychology books or the science fiction books that Gaara kept stocked on Naruto's shelves for when the red head decided to come over, but couldn't be bothered with Naruto's yapping.

"Naruto?" He heard. Grumbling, he went to his room door.

"What do you want, Kaida." He glared at the dark haired girl who smirked back at him. Kiyohiko Kaida was the younger sister of a woman that Iruka worked with. She was a junior, one year older than Naruto, and every time he had been suspended the previous year due to his antics, the green-eyed vixen would show up to tutor him. She was tall and pale, and her hair was almost always down over her shoulders. She would have been pretty if she wasn't also inherently evil. Kaida had a way of smiling that made Naruto think she was Satan's right hand man. She heckled him about everything, and could have possibly been the most annoying girl ever to grace the earth, in Naruto's book.

"I heard you were expelled," She said, nonchalant as usual, waltzing into his room and sitting down at his computer desk. "Want to tell me about it?"

Naruto glowered at her and shut his room door, then flopped on his bed again. "No."

"Really." Kaida asked. Naruto knew she was smirking and he scowled at the ceiling. The ceiling wasn't very interesting, but it contrasted with the dark blue of Naruto's walls. Iruka had put his foot down when Naruto had begged to paint his room orange.

"Did you just come to annoy me?"

"No, I came because Suzuka came, because Iruka called her, because _you_ got in trouble at school again. And I have to tutor you until you get into a new school, don't I? So why don't you just tell me what you did?"

"I didn't do anything."

"But Naruto," Kaida said, "You don't get kicked out of school for doing nothing." She spoke in her usual self-righteous voice, as if she knew everything, and Naruto wouldn't be surprised if she did. He was positive that she was some sort of vampire who sucked knowledge out of people's brains, because he always felt significantly dumber while she was around.

"Yes you can. And I did." Naruto declared. In the following silence, which lasted about three hundred seconds (or five minutes), Naruto tried to find some way to weasel out of his punishment. When Kaida interrupted him he shot daggers at her. "What?!" He complained.

"I said," She ran her fingers through her hair, "What do you plan on doing now?"

"I don't know!" Naruto grumbled. "I'll just go somewhere else!"

"Like where? The closest school is a Catholic private one, and they won't accept you."

"Shut up."

"Or, what, do you plan on _me_ tutoring you for the rest of your life?"

"_Shut up_."

"Or maybe you just think that schools are just dying to have you as a part of their community."

"Kaida, shut the hell up!" Naruto snarled. Her green eyes lasered in on him, and the smirk she wore just pissed him off even more.

"Am I bothering you?" she asked sweetly. Naruto could think of a thousand good comebacks for that, most of which included him using language that would make Iruka gasp in horror.

"Fucker." He muttered.

"Now, now, Naruto." Kaida grinned and got up. "It's just so unfair that I have to tutor someone who's so adamant to not learn."

"Get out of my room."

She smiled and wiggled her fingers at him, as if she was saying good-bye and actually leaving the house when she was just going to go downstairs and talk with Suzuka and Iruka. "Of course, Naruto." She said.

Naruto waited until he heard her footsteps on the stairs before jumping up and locking his door, then kicking a book across the room. Damn that Kaida— damn Seishun High! He couldn't be expelled, it just wasn't _fair_! Okay, so maybe he did bring this fate upon himself, but that didn't mean they had to expel him! Naruto closed his eyes and slouched on his bed again. He knew that downstairs, Iruka was asking Kaida to tutor Naruto and that Kaida was agreeing.

He drifted off into a thankfully dreamless sleep.


	2. In Which Tutors Are Helpful

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** Gaara's sorta OOC in this fiction, I just realized. Sorry about that, it's the only way this is going to work.

Well, I am glad to see that people liked this story enough to favorite it ( I love you all dearly for it), but I would love reviews! Um, unless they're flames, in which case... no thanks. 3 So if you're reading this: REVIEW! Then I'll be happy and you'll be happy.

So, to my new favorite reviewer marina-uzumaki-potter, here's the next chapter of Orchestral Infatuation!

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**I**n **W**hich **T**utors **A**re **H**elpful **A**nd **N**aruto **R**uns **A**way

"Okay, Naruto, so how do you solve this problem here?"

"I don't know. Go away, school is over."

"Yeah, duh." Kaida rolled her eyes at him. "I tutor you after school, don't I? Iruka's looking for a real tutor, and until then I have to keep you at sophomore level!"

"Go away."

Kaida snorted and picked up a fork. "I'm in the mood for ramen." She said. Naruto just waved her off and went back to brooding.

It had been three long weeks. Naruto had been grounded for two of them, but Iruka could never keep Naruto grounded for that long, so Naruto had been on his computer at the end of the first week, and had ramen and his manga back by the middle of the second week. He had already gone through one very pissed off tutor, and now Kaida was back to tutoring him after school. On the bright side, Gaara and Kankuro had come over and agreed that Kaida was some sort of brain sucking vampiress and had helped Naruto come up with a plan to stick a knife through her heart (mostly Gaara planned that one, while the other two watched him write down his notes in grim horror). Temari had come to visit also, more often than Gaara and Kankuro since she was a senior and could leave school grounds during her free block, and mostly she wanted to know what Naruto was planning to do with himself, which of course, he couldn't answer. He thought he'd be happily playing his Playstation 2, but Iruka refused to give that back to him until Naruto got a new tutor who didn't quit after one and a half weeks.

Kaida came back to the table and set two bowls of ramen down. "So, Naruto," she asked conversationally, "Have you considered going to school in Konoha?" Naruto scowled. The last time Kaida made ramen, she practically destroyed it... Naruto had never seen crispy noodles like that before in his life. He was sort of frightened to eat this bowl in front of him now, but it at least smelled edible...

He glared at her. "No." He said.

She nodded. "I see. You know, Konoha Private, where I go, has a couple openings."

Naruto chose to gape at her rather than say what he felt like saying, which was something along the lines of _you mean there's a school for Satan's children?_

She smirked at him. "There's an entrance exam," She continued, starting on her bowl of ramen. "So you might not get in."

"You saying I'm stupid?"

"I'm _saying_ it's a hard test."

"You got in. Can't be that tough." Naruto commented, reaching for his ramen, but not before offering a prayer up to the ramen god, just to make sure his food was somewhat safe.

She only giggled, which was a sign that something bad was going to happen to Naruto. "Is that a challenge?"

"No, because I don't want to go to your school. I don't want to be remotely near you."

"Near me?" Kaida snorted. "Trust me, we'll be leagues apart. Can you sing any?" She blew daintily on her noodles and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Sing? What the hell does me singing have to do with anything?"

"Well? Can you?"

"No." Naruto slurped some noodles and noticed that Kaida was looking at him funny. "What?" He sighed, exasperated.

"Your voice sounds like it's a perfect singing voice, but whatever. Don't go fishing for anymore compliments, though." Naruto smirked. "Do you play any instruments?"

"I used to play the violin."

"Used, past tense, or used as in 'I still play it when I have lessons but otherwise, no, I don't play the violin'?"

"There's a difference?"

"Yes! What's the answer?"

"I don't play the violin anymore. I played in elementary school, and halfway through middle school. Gaara played too, but he's better than me."

"Gaara?" Kaida raised an eyebrow. "You mean the one with the red hair?"

"Yes," Naruto scowled. "What are you going to say about him?"

"Just that he looked more like he'd play guitar for Metallica (1)."

"Firstly, what the hell, no he doesn't. And secondly, Gaara hates metal music! He prefers death rock."

"And what a difference _that_ is." Kaida said dryly.

"Shut up."

"Anyway, Naruto, you could brush up on your violin and try out for orchestra. If you're any good, you know, they'll let you in on a scholarship. If you're really good you could end up on the advanced orchestra. Our school's advanced orchestra has been undefeated for five years."

"Undefeated?" Naruto snorted. "You're talking about it like it's some sort of sports team."

"Oh, you don't know, do you?" Kaida grinned at him. "Konoha Private Academy is known for musical prowess. You can't just be anyone and get in." She went on to talk about the awards that the school had won, and also about how she had been brought up to the normal ensemble's Head Alto, which was supposed to be something monumental, except that Naruto could care less.

Naruto practically cheered when the doorbell rang, and knocked over his chair in his hurry to get to it. Gaara had promised to visit today, and sure enough, the red head was at the door. "Gaara! You're here!" Naruto chattered, and the pale eyed boy gave Naruto an appraising look.

"Are you going to move so I can go in?" He asked finally, and Naruto nodded and let Gaara through. They went back to the kitchen, where Kaida was finishing her ramen. Gaara nodded at her and she nodded back. Maybe they both knew deep down inside that Gaara was going to kill her one day. At least, Naruto hoped Gaara would kill her one day. He wondered if that was normal for a couple more seconds, but then asked Gaara if he wanted anything to eat, and as expected, the answer was no.

"What happened in school?" Naruto asked, and Gaara shrugged, looking at the work that Naruto was supposed to be doing.

"You're ahead of us." He commented.

"I am?" Naruto looked at the paper. The math problems he was doing were really hard, and he was proud to be ahead of his math class and Gaara's, since Gaara happened to be in honors algebra.

"By two chapters." Gaara acknowledged. Naruto smiled brightly. "…I'm past you, though."

"That's because you're weird and you did the whole textbook already! I bet Kankuro helped you," Naruto pouted, "He's good at math and science. You're good at art and music. Temari's good at languages…"

Gaara shrugged and looked at the papers again.

Kaida turned back to Naruto. "I'll tell Iruka."

"No," Naruto argued. "I don't want to go to your school. I don't want to be in a five mile radius of you."

"Naruto, guess what? The feeling? _It's mutual_." Kaida snarled at him. "But the point is that _I_ get extra points if I refer you to the school and you get in. Double that if you're good enough to get into the orchestra. And triple that if you get into the accelerated students orchestra. And even more importantly, _you_ get kudos too."

"Whatever." Naruto waved his hand. "I want to go to a school around here. I don't want to go to Konoha."

"Why not?" Kaida complained. "Not that I particularly care or anything, but these schools aren't good enough for you." She looked over at Gaara. "Or you, for that matter."

"What are you saying?" Naruto asked, leaning back in his chair.

Kaida sighed and scowled. "I told you not to go fishing for compliments," She said, but she continued anyway. "You have talent, don't you? You have something that you want to achieve. I'm sure that you can achieve it with the right education, if you can fit that into your pea brain."

"I'm getting the right education here, aren't I? All I need to do is find a school around here. I don't want to go all the way to Konoha. Besides, it's all rich kids there and I'm not rich."

"Neither am I!" Kaida exclaimed, but Naruto gave her a look. Kaida was pretty much the epitome of rich. As far as Naruto knew, anything she wanted, she pretty much got. Kaida grumbled, "This is a chance for you to start anew, don't you see that?"

"No, I don't." Naruto said stubbornly. "I don't want to go to Konoha and start over."

"Why?"

"I just don't want to." Naruto turned to Gaara and was about to ask him if he would bring over his Playstation the next time he visited.

"Are you scared?" Kaida taunted, a devilish smirk rising on her features.

"Scared of what? You?" Naruto scoffed. "Don't kid yourself."

"So? What's the reason?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just don't want to go."

Kaida raised an eyebrow and calmly stated, "Why? Because everything is _so_ great right now, isn't it? Everyone thinks you're a liar, Naruto. A habitual liar." Naruto tried to speak over her, but she brushed him off and continued, "Everyone thinks that you've got problems that you need to work out and that you live with Iruka because your real parents couldn't deal with your issues and they feel for Iruka for even putting up with you. Everyone thinks you're no-good, low-down, piece of shit trash that will get nowhere, do nothing, and have nothing to show at the end of his life." Kaida stood up and collected her things. "And if that's what you want, then stay here. Finish those sheets for tomorrow." She smiled, put her things in her messenger bag, and left.

Naruto glared after her and tore the sheets in half. "I hate Kaida." He muttered.

Gaara looked at Naruto, and then sighed. "She's right, though," He said, when Naruto went to open his mouth. "That's what a lot of people do think."

"What?" Naruto asked his mood dropping.

Gaara shrugged. "They don't like me either," He said calmly, as if he was discussing the weather.

"Why don't they like you? Why don't they like me?" Naruto paused, looking carefully into Gaara's eyes. Gaara revealed nothing, just stared back. "…Is it because of the pipes?" He faltered, waiting for Gaara to continue. There was a pregnant pause.

"They don't all hate you." Gaara concluded, suddenly. "It's just most of them. Most of the adults. The rest of them pity you."

"Pity?"

"Because they think you're insane." Gaara cleared up.

"…" Naruto looked at his cold ramen. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Gaara frowned. "Because you _knew_."

"Obviously I didn't know! Obviously, because it took Kaida of all people to tell me that I was a piece of shit! I had no idea that"

"But you did know," Gaara interrupted. "And you tried to change that by playing pranks."

Naruto stared at Gaara. "…But…"

Gaara looked at the bowl of ramen and said, "You told me that no one listens to you, even when you have good ideas. You said that Iruka went shopping because somehow every time you went, the groceries were messed up. You said that you didn't like taking tests because the teachers always graded yours extra hard." Gaara paused, then looked at Naruto. "That's because they didn't like you."

Naruto closed his eyes and thought hard. He hadn't realized that everyone hated him. Well… in an odd sort of way, he knew. But… he didn't really know, at least not consciously, that people hated him. It was just a feeling that he had deep inside him that he figured every kid had, when they all thought that the world was out to get them.

Naruto believed in it when he was younger, back when people used to tease him about the scratches on his cheeks. back then he had thought everyone hated him, and he didn't want that. But then Iruka came and changed it all. Naruto thought that maybe it had been Iruka who helped make everyone like him, but beneath the skin... somewhere deep inside him, Naruto knew what the truth was. And he willfully ignored it, because there was no use in exploring a feeling that only made you feel bad, right?

So maybe it was Iruka's fault, because Iruka really loved Naruto and told him that people liked him. Maybe that's why he didn't really believe that feeling... up until now.

The feeling was like a glass ceiling, a barrier that blocked Naruto from a place that he wanted to reach. Other people could reach that place, and all Naruto wanted to be with them and share in their happiness, but that glass ceiling was there, blockading him.

Why hadn't Gaara said anything sooner? Why hadn't Gaara told him that everyone hated him? Why didn't Iruka tell him? Why did _Kaida_ tell him? Did Kankuro like him? Did Temari? Did Gaara like him?

His cheeks were wet. Naruto touched them with his fingers. Was he really crying?

Gaara said nothing. He was an almost comforting presence at the moment, bordering on pure repulsion because Naruto was mad at Gaara for not even mentioning that the whole entire community hated Naruto's guts. But he should have known.

"Naruto." Gaara murmured. "That's why you should start over."

* * *

Iruka came home with handfuls of brochures for Konoha Private Academy. "Naruto," He said cheerfully, pulling Naruto out of his TV coma, "You wouldn't believe what Suzuka offered for you!"

Naruto uncurled himself from around one of Iruka's favorite throw pillows and sighed. "Let me guess." Naruto muttered. "Konoha Private has some openings and you want me to take the entrance exam."

Iruka beamed. "Yes," He said happily, and then he noticed Naruto's melancholy look. "What's wrong?"

"…Do you hate me?" Naruto asked, glaring at Iruka, who shook his head. "Then why are you sending me there?"

"Naruto," Iruka sat down next to him and neatly dropped the brochures onto the coffee table, "What is this about? It's not about school, is it? It's something else, isn't it?"

"I don't want to go," Naruto muttered. "I don't want to stay here either. Everyone there will hate me just like everyone here does, and I'd rather just not do anything."

"…What do you mean?" Iruka asked, and Naruto moved away from Iruka and hugged one of the throw pillows again. Iruka looked worried, clenching and unclenching his hands ten times before asking, "Who says everyone hates you?"

Naruto shrugged. "Who cares? It's true, isn't it." Naruto said, looking at Iruka. "Do you know why they hate me? Probably, right? That's why you adopted me isn't it? So you could work out my problems?"

"Naruto"

Naruto spoke over him. "Because I have _so_ many issues to work out, don't I?" he snarled. "I don't even know how much stuff is wrong with me, that's how messed up I am. And it's all publicity for you, isn't it? Because you're the one who's fixing me!"

"Naruto!" Iruka's eyes were wide. "You know that isn't true!"

Naruto stared at Iruka. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Iruka asked, clenching his fists again. Naruto tallied up the numbers in his head. So far Iruka had done that twenty-eight times.

"Why didn't you tell me that everyone hates me? Why did you let me think I was normal when I'm some sort of freak of nature that no one wants?!"

Iruka's eyes were downcast. He stopped clenching his fists and relaxed. His hands folded in his lap. "Naruto." He said, faintly. "I didn't want them to hate you. It's my fault."

Naruto glared at him. "_You_ made them hate me?"

Iruka didn't respond. Naruto got up, tossing the pillow onto the couch, and stalked towards the door. "Where are you going?" Iruka asked, and Naruto looked over his shoulder, where his guardian was rising off the couch quickly, about to stop him.

"Out." Naruto hissed. And he slammed the door behind him as he left.

* * *

(1)- haha sorry. I had to put that in. The first time Gaara showed up in Naruto, a friend of mine who knows nothing about Metallica was like, "Doesn't he look like he'd be in Metallica?" I laughed for like five minutes, and she just sat on my couch like, "...what?" 


	3. In Which Gaara Rescues Naruto

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N: **Today I came up with another idea for a fanfiction. It's a really good one, but it's going to take time to work out the kinks in it... I hope I can start it after I finish this one. Or not. I don't know. Maybe I'll put the plans up here, once I actually plan it out, and you guys can decide how good it is.

It's nice to know that a lot of people are reading this and are putting it on story alerts and favorites and stuff, but the problem is that I don't feel very accomplished if I'm not getting reviews. And I've only got three, (D :) so I don't feel like many people like my story at all, when I'm sure some people are bound to disagree. So, in light of all this, I've decided that if I don't get five reviews, then I'll put the story on haitus and start writing up the other fanfiction plans instead, depending on what I'm doing at the time. Wow, an ultimatum. che.

I would, however, like to thank...**Gothic-InuFluffy **and **EllaCrain** for reviewing on the second chapter: D Here's an update for you!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **G**aara **R**escues **N**aruto **A**nd **T**he **E**xam **I**s **G**iven

Naruto would have liked it if it rained. If he had been soaked to the bone and if he could feel like maybe he was about to die. But it was still a beautiful fall day, a slightly cold day, sure, but still a beautiful, sunny, fall day.

Last night he had stormed out of the house without a real plan, and now here he was… err… somewhere. He didn't know exactly where he went, just that he had stormed off in various directions until he found somewhere secluded to sleep. Normally, Naruto supposed he would have gone to Gaara's, but since Gaara hadn't been truthful with him, he hadn't gone there. That's when it occurred to him that his only real friends were Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari, all of which lived in the same house! And Kaida, even though she was inherently evil usually, he considered her a friend of sorts, when she was being nice (which had only happened seventeen times since Naruto had the misfortune of meeting her).

But why did Kaida have to tell him that everyone hated him? Gaara said that Naruto already knew, but Naruto swore on his life that he didn't, even though that little nagging voice that was unmistakably his in the back of his head taunted _you knew and you chose to ignore it, so everything that's happening now is your fault._ Why did everyone hate him? What had he done to them?

"You're here." He heard. He looked up. Gaara and Kankuro were looking in at him.

"Naruto, man…" Kankuro sighed. "What are you doing? You have no idea how much Iruka's freaking out right now. My dad is trying to calm him down, and we're talking about _my_ dad here!"

Naruto stood up and dusted himself off. "Serves him right." Kankuro pulled a face.

"What's eating you, man?" He asked, and he gave Naruto a half smirk, a feat only Kankuro could pull off. "Listen, let's get you home."

"I'm not going home," Naruto argued. He was kinda tired and home sounded really good, but he was prepared to fight not to go, since Iruka caused this whole mess.

Kankuro moved, as if he was going to forcibly bring Naruto back, but Gaara rose his hand. "Get Temari." He said, and Kankuro looked at his little brother, then frowned at Naruto.

"Fine." He said, turning on his heel. He shot one worried glance at Naruto before taking off. Gaara sat down on a bench across from Naruto, and Naruto realized with a start that he'd been asleep in the most secluded area in the park. His cheeks turned red, but Gaara didn't seem to notice.

"You can't blame him," Gaara said, after a long silence.

"Yes I can."

"He wants to make your suffering better."

"No he doesn't."

"No one else would have taken you in." Gaara said. "But Iruka did, and not because he's a psychologist. It's because he actually cares about you."

"No he doesn't."

"He remembers your birthday and buys you gifts. He always cooks your favorite food on your worst days. He bought you a Playstation 2 even though he was in a tight spot." Gaara looked pensive. "He wants you to be happy. He doesn't want you to end up sad because people don't like you."

"But why don't they like me?"

"Why does it matter what people think of you?" Gaara asked. A breeze rustled by and Naruto caught a glimpse of Gaara's tattoo, which he kept hidden under locks of red hair.

"I want people to like me." He murmured.

"They won't like you here. But somewhere else, they might like you."

"What about you, Gaara? They don't like you either!"

He shrugged. "I don't care." He said, glancing away. "I don't like them either."

A car pulled up and Naruto knew it was Temari and Kankuro. "I'll go home." He muttered.

"Take the test," Gaara said. "And then maybe you can start over in a place where people will like you."

Naruto looked at his friend and finally smiled. "You know?" He said, with a grin. "I'd like that."

* * *

Iruka had grounded him (again) for scaring him shitless, but it had only lasted a day, a very short day in which Iruka spent most of his time planning Naruto's entrance exam date. According to Kaida, this was also prime time to practice his violin. Naruto wasn't keen on that, but Iruka begged him to at least try, so he had spent two weeks practicing and having to put up with that look that Gaara had when he felt better than Naruto (which he wore most of the time). It pissed Naruto off, seriously. But playing the violin again felt sort of good, especially when he remembered why he liked playing so much.

He loved memorizing pieces. The notes, the key signature, the timing, the tempo, the scales— he especially loved memorizing the notes. Gaara was pretty good at just making a piece sound good, but Naruto could hammer through six or seven pieces in his head all by notes. He remembered every accidental, sharp, flat, rest— everything. And he had memorized their individual sounds and could play by ear. There was so much to memorize and so much counting to do that Naruto found himself immersed in his music.

He had stopped playing because he hated and abhorred his teacher. He had been worse than Kaida. And he sucked all the fun out of playing music. His violin teacher was the most pompous, stuck-up bastard Naruto had had the pleasure to meet. He refised to let Naruto play songs that he was interested in, and was upset with Naruto for being fidgety, noisy, unfocused, annoying— you name it. Naruto was usually angry with him to, for being a bastard, mostly.

"Naruto?" Iruka called. Naruto put his violin down and went to the door.

"What?" He yelled back. "Are we going already?"

Iruka was halfway up the staircase, holding a pile of books that resembled the leaning tower of Pisa. "In just a second," He said, although it was muffled.

Naruto hurried over and took some of the books. "What are these?"

Iruka smiled. "Suzuka's sure that you'll make it into the school, Naruto. She's downstairs, she'll bring you to Konoha. These are textbooks that she's giving us!"

Naruto stared. "You mean for the whole four years?"

"Well," Iruka grinned sheepishly, "most of them are books I asked her for."

Naruto smiled and brought the books to Iruka's room, grabbed his violin from his room, and then hurried downstairs. Kaida's older sister Suzuka was waiting on the couch.

Suzuka and Kaida were completely different. Where Kaida was evil, Suzuka was kind. Suzuka had warm emerald eyes and long dark hair, and her skin was tan, unlike Kaida's pale skin. She always smiled at Naruto, and when he was younger she gave him candy every time she visited. Naruto briefly wondered if she did it out of pity.

"Oh! Naruto!" Suzuka said, looking up. "Did…Did Iruka make it upstairs okay? He told me not to help him with all those books, but… did you see that pile? It's humongous!"

Naruto grinned. "He's fine." He said.

Suzuka smiled. "That's good!" She said, and she got up. "Are you nervous about the exam, Naruto? I promise it's not hard. You know how Kaida likes to make people suffer, don't you? She probably told you it was difficult."

Naruto nodded. "How do you know it isn't hard?" He asked, and she led him to the door, smiling knowingly.

"Oh, I just have a hunch," She said, smiling and reaching into her back pocket. "Kaida's in the car too, by the way." She gave him an apologetic glance. "Sorry. I know you both argue a lot. Vincent couldn't take her with him today, and I can't leave her at home." Naruto remembered that Suzuka had gotten married about two years ago to Vincent. The guy was pretty outlandish and seemed cold and unforgiving, but somehow Suzuka had managed to get married to him. Weird.

Naruto perked at the sound of something that just might be blackmail. "Why not?"

Suzuka smirked demonically. "Promise you won't tell her I told you?" She asked, as they walked towards the black BMW she drove.

"Promise." Naruto grinned.

"Okay. Well, Kaida is an absolute klutz in the kitchen. Have you noticed that? The only thing she can make is microwavable ramen, and I don't usually buy that, because it's too salty." Suzuka smiled brightly now. "Kaida decided that she wanted to make pancakes one day while I wasn't home last week. She nearly burned down the kitchen. Vincent got so mad, he decided that she couldn't left home alone anymore!"

Naruto grinned widely. "So she's sort of grounded?"

"Sort of? She's not supposed to watch TV for the next two weeks either." Suzuka laughed. "I _told_ her just to call out for food when she wanted it."

By this time they were standing by the car, and Kaida seemed to be fuming in a corner of the backseat. Naruto decided that he really wasn't up for her temper, so he took the passenger seat, and Suzuka went around to the driver's side. Naruto took this opportunity to grin back at Kaida. "Where are _you_ going?" he asked sweetly.

"Oh rot in hell." She snarled.

The ride to Konoha was pretty animated, since Suzuka claimed that she knew every word to every song on the radio, and Naruto decided to make a bet out of it, and Kaida yelled for the two of them to stop singing because people were staring at the car.

"Ah, here we are…" Suzuka took a swift turn and pulled into a parking lot. "Heh… I always forget that left turn there."

Naruto looked at the huge school with wide eyes. "This is Konoha Private Academy? I thought it'd be smaller!"

"A world renown school like Konoha Private?" Suzuka laughed. "No, Naruto, Konoha Private is one of the richest schools in this area."

"How am I gonna pay for it, then?" Naruto whined.

Kaida muttered something from the backseat and Suzuka pulling into a parking space, commenting, "What was that Kaida? Did you have something you wanted to say, or are you just moping again?"

Kaida pulled a face. "Nothing."

"Che, it's not my fault I'm lugging you around, you know," Suzuka sent a disapproving glance into the rearview mirror at the slouching girl. "It's yours."

Naruto couldn't help but snort, and Kaida widened his eyes. "You told him!"

"I didn't tell him the whole story," Suzuka said, a wicked smile appearing on her face. "But I could."

"Hey, Naruto, lemme show you around!" Kaida said hurriedly, and Suzuka laughed.

"Go on, Naruto. She'll bring you to the examination room, right Kaida? I'll go talk to Kakashi about your recital for him. Do you know what song you'll be playing, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded. "The Entertainer by Scott Joplin," He said, and Suzuka smiled.

"That's wonderful! Your music is in your case, then?" Naruto nodded. "Good! I'll tell Kakashi you're all ready, then. He'll love to meet you, I bet. He's the orchestra teacher here."

"Suzuka! Jeez, I'll tell him everything, can we go now?" Kaida complained.

"How did you end up so effing moody?" Suzuka asked cheerfully, getting out of the car. Naruto and Kaida followed suit, but before Naruto could ask Suzuka anymore questions, Kaida had bounded over to him, took his violin case in one hand and grabbed his hand with the other, and started pulling him towards tow big glass doors.

"See you, Suzuka!" Kaida yelled over her shoulder. Her sister simply waved and started towards another building.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto complained. "How am I supposed to get used to this school when you're dragging me through it?"

"Trust me, it's not the same when it's empty," Kaida grumbled. "What did Suzuka tell you?"

Naruto grinned and shook his head. "I can't tell you! It's secret,"

"Look, Naruto," Kaida slowed down and fixed him with her patented demon glare. "I bet she told you that I burned three whole oven mitts already, so let me just make this clear— if I ever hear any of this around school, I'll hunt you down and skin you and make a rug out of you for my room."

Naruto grinned even wider. "I didn't know you burned three oven mitts," He said cheerily. Kaida widened her eyes, then narrowed them, then stomped of with Nsruto in tow, muttering about stupid blonds.

Finally she stopped and kicked open a classroom door. "Jiraya-sensei!" She said, pulling Naruto in behind her.

A white haired man looked up and pasted on a lecherous grin. "Oh, Kaida! Did your sister come too?"

"Oh shut up." Kaida scowled. She pointed to Naruto. "This is the boy who's here to take the entrance exam. His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He's a friend of mine."

Naruto tugged his hand out of Kaida's grip and shook feeling back into it. The white haired old man stood and looked at Naruto, then sighed. "Fine, fine. Sit down over here," He motioned to a desk, "And I'll administer the exam."

Kaida nodded to Naruto before muttering, "Don't let the old goat get to you, by the way. He's just a first class pervert. All he likes are girls."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Kaida. "No wonder he doesn't like you," He muttered back.

She gave him a scalding glare and left the room. Jiraya smirked at Naruto, holding up what looked like a novel. "This," He said, "Is your test."

"You're kidding!" Naruto gaped.

"Yeah. I am." Jiraya grinned and picked up a smaller stack of papers. "This is your test."

Naruto took the papers from him and leafed through it. "Can I get a pencil?"

"Can you get?" Jiraya raised an eyebrow. "You mean, 'May I have'."

"Sure," Naruto agreed. "So, may I have a pencil?"

"No." Jiraya said, grinning. "But you can have a pen."

"But I have to write an essay!" Naruto complained.

"Right. In pen." Jiraya patted his shoulder. "Relax, kid. You'll do fine." With that, he tossed Naruto a pen and went back to his desk, where he picked up a book that read War and Peace. Naruto went to his desk and sat down.

_Here goes nothing._ He said to himself, and he looked up once more to check the time. His eyes lingered on Jiraya for a second. _…Why is he blushing? I thought __War and Peace__ was boring._ Naruto shook his head and focused on his test.


	4. In Which The Recital Commences

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** Okay, I was kinda bored yesterday and wrote out like, four chapters. XD It was actually really, really weird. I've never been able to write more than one chapter a day, hence my updating every once in a while. By the way, there are a lot of music terms in this chapter... I did my best to make some very brief footnotes with my piano logic, but if you're interested, you should go to Wikipedia and check out their page for the piano. Trust me, it'll help a little bit.

Todayyyy I checked my email and I was like "OOH! They reviewed, so I'll post a chapter!" But I'm thanking everyone for their reviews first, soo...**Gothic-InuFluffy**, thanks again and XD 10 points if you can guess what he's reading under War and Peace, **kyte-sama**, thanks and unfortunately Gaara doesn't take the exam but he does show up through the story alot, **EllaCrain**, thanks : 3 (Jiraya has some serious schooling issues to work out, doesn't he?), **IsolinaBlack**, thanks I try to be somewhat funny (otherwise this would be one boring, boring story, I assure you) and here's an update! hehe, and finally, **Black-Dranzer-1119** thanks! Eventually this will be a SasuNaru, of course... I haven't introduced Sasuke yet, but I'm getting there. : 3 This is all a set up because it's important for the story!

Phew! Okay, now I'll stop thanking and rambling and move on. Review people, it makes me happy!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **T**he **R**ecital **C**ommences **A**nd **N**aruto **S**urprises **E**veryone

The spotlight was hot. Really, really hot. Naruto kinda wanted to go back outside into the cold, just to get away from it. But here he was, in the auditorium, holding his violin at rest. In the back of the almost empty auditorium was a gray haired man who was wearing the most random mask (Naruto immediately decided that the man must have had some sort of awful facial condition, like big front teeth or small pointy lips). It seemed like he was leagues away.

Nervously, Naruto waited for a couple seconds, but when the man said nothing, Naruto shrugged and brought his violin into position. The sheet music for The Entertainer sat on a stand in front of him, but Naruto know the whole song by heart already anyway. He gently lowered his bow onto the strings and tried to remember Gaara's short-and-sharp lessons on how to make a piece sound like a song and not a car wreck.

He began slowly, trying to remember what Gaara had told him. Something about not playing to fast or too slow. Nervous, Naruto stumbled through the song, making tons of obvious mistakes. _Was that guy back there Kakashi? Probably…_ Naruto frowned as he accidentally played the wrong note three times in a row. That Kakashi guy probably thought Naruto was no good by now…

He made it all the way through the song, looking up at Kakashi and hoping that his painfully-obvious mistakes weren't too obvious. The guy didn't move, so Naruto tried calling "Hello?" but there was no response. Then Naruto calculated how long the song took with all his mistakes, a stunning fifteen hundred seconds… twenty-five minutes.

Nothing happened. Nothing. Nothing— The Sequel. Nothing Strikes Again. The Nothing Zone. Nothing Shrunk the Kids. Nothing Wars. Nothing Returns.

Finally Naruto got so pissed off of waiting and making movie titles out of Nothing that he put his violin back in it's case and went over to the guy. It turned out that Kakashi wasn't so far away after all, just about five chairs away from the stage.

He was sleeping! Sleeping! Naruto had just bombed a whole piece, and the guy was _sleeping_? Naruto resisted the urge to shove his bow down the man's throat and shook the teacher.

"Huh? Oh." The guy turned to look at Naruto, his visible eye curling into what Naruto figured was the closest thing that he could make for a smile with a mask on.

"I'm done." Naruto said sullenly. The guy nodded.

"Well, you need more practice," The guy said, shrugging and taking out a book. Naruto scanned the cover. Make-out Paradise…? Was this guy reading porn?!

"Hey!" Naruto complained, and the guy looked at him again.

"In the eighth measure," He said, as if he wasn't reading the porn book, "you didn't play softly, and you didn't play D sharp, but D flat.(1)" Another shrug. "And then you started playing too fast. Maybe you were just nervous."

Naruto blinked. "You were listening?"

The guy made another eye-smile and went back to his book. Naruto seriously considered shoving his bow down this man's throat (damn the repercussions, the man was asking for it!), when a bunch of students walked into the auditorium. They were all holding instrument cases and wearing the school uniform, which Naruto recognized only because Kaida wore the girl's uniform every time she had to tutor him— girls wore a dark blue skirt and a white sweater with Konoha's insignia on it, boys wore dark slacks with a white button down shirt and a dark blue tie with Konoha's insignia. Some of them even wore blazers.

"Kakashi-sensei!" said a pretty pink haired girl. Naruto noticed that her forehead was larger than the broadside of a barn. He had to step on his foot to keep from snickering and saying something equally as stupid, such as billboard brow. "We're all ready to practice for the Open House next week!"

A blonde standing next to her spoke up, "Chouji isn't here yet. I think he's getting help with his tuba."

Kakashi nodded and then said to Naruto, "Why don't you try one more time?"

Naruto stared at the man like he was crazy. "Uh… playing The Entertainer?" He asked, shakily. Kakashi nodded. "But I've never played for an audience before!" He blurted, making the best puppy dog eyes he could muster up. There was no way he was going to mess up in front of all these people!

Kakashi only eye-smiled (Naruto was _that_ close to ripping off his mask) and waved Naruto back to the stage. Grudgingly, Naruto went.

Naruto sat down and picked up his violin again. He took a couple deep breaths and looked at The Entertainer's sheet music once more. Everything seemed so fuzzy! He decided he wouldn't play that after all.

He remembered the only songs his violin teacher ever liked when he played them: Bach's 6 Suites, which he had memorized. He took The Entertainer music off the stand and quickly thought about Suite 1.

He knew it perfectly. It was in B minor(2), which meant there were two sharps in the key signature(3), F sharp and C sharp. It was in common time, which meant that every quarter note got one beat and there were four beats per measure(4). Best of all, there were no rests, which Naruto hated with a passion.

He was still nervous, so he counted the seconds until the crowd of students were quiet (two hundred ten seconds, which was the same as three and a half minutes) how many times Kakashi cleared his throat, (twice, not so exciting), how many people there were excluding Kakashi (sixty-two), and how many seconds it took for there to be complete and total silence (only ninety seconds, a minute and a half). Then Naruto repeated Gaara's words over and over in his head, _play like it's just you and me, play like it's just you and me._

He closed his eyes and thought of the notes and played. He was almost halfway through the first page in his head, when Kakashi called for him to stop.

"That's Bach's Suite 1." He commented.

"Yeah!" Naruto said, scratching his head nervously. "I was too nervous to play The Entertainer… but if you don't want to hear that, I can play other stuff too. Like…. Third Pupil's Concerto in G minor, or The Star Spangled Banner, or Trio No. 1, Trio No. 7, or… Vocalise Op.34 No.14, or"

Kakashi stopped him. "You have the music for all of those?" He approached the stage.

"No." Naruto grinned. "I memorized them."

Kakashi looked as skeptical as a guy who smiled with his eye could. "What do you mean, memorized?"

Naruto frowned. "Well," He said, "Vocalise Op.34 No.14 is in common time, but in the second measure the time changes to cut time. It's in the key of E minor and the tempo is lento, but sometimes it switches to allegro. And most of the time you play it softly. Do you want me to tell you the notes too?" The auditorium was quiet, so Naruto babbled on. "Okay, well, it starts with a quarter note rest and an eighth note rest, and then"

Kakashi held up his hand, sufficiently silencing him. "You mean to tell me that you've memorized every detail about every song you've played?"

"Well… I've never played Vocalise Op.34 No.14. I just know it. My friend Gaara plays it." Naruto sheepishly grinned. "Uh… 'cause, I don't usually play the violin anymore. I just practiced because Kaida said I should try out for the orchestra." He was getting very uncomfortable, especially now that the crowd of kids was all whispering to each other now.

Kakashi must have been smiling or something, because his voice had that happy note in it. "And how many songs have you memorized?"

"Uh… a lot?" Naruto murmured, scratching his head again. "I had to learn most of Bach's stuff, so I know a lot of his music by heart."

"And you know every detail? Where to repeat, where you change tempo…?"

"Yeah, I memorize everything. Not like a photographic memory," Naruto started to rant, "I just memorize how the notes go and then I play them. Some pieces are really similar and I can't tell them apart right away, so that's a problem, I guess, but usually as long as I know the name of the piece and I've seen it for a little while I can memorize it and play it back. And I can recognize notes and play back what I've heard," He started to play up all of his strengths now, "And I can read bass clef, even though the violin is only in treble clef. And I"

The door to the auditorium opened again and Kaida came in. She looked at Kakashi and the students and then at Naruto, who stared at her, finally falling silent. A smirk rose on her face and she looked at Kakashi. "I thought the recital was over… sorry, Kakashi-sensei."

"It's over," Kakashi nodded, and Naruto hurriedly packed away his violin and flew off the stage.

Suzuka was the next person through the doors of the auditorium, and she was wearing a brilliant smile. "Hey, Hatake-kun," she said, cheerily. "Everything's done now, right?"

Kakashi nodded, giving her an eye-smile— Naruto looked at Kaida, who mouthed _weird isn't it?_— and asked Suzuka to step into the hallway with him. Suzuka nodded, commenting to Naruto to wait for a second, and ignoring Kaida's enraged yelp about how her own sister could care less where _she_ was.

As soon as the two adults left, the students in the orchestra started speaking up.

"Kaida, who's the kid?" Asked someone, motioning to Naruto with a nod of his head. "Friend of yours?"

"Hardly," Kaida scoffed. "And his name is Naruto. He's a year younger than you, Hiraku."

"A year younger than me? Hey, that kid's a sophomore?" The speaker stood, and Naruto regarded him. This boy had olive skin and messy dark hair and deep blue eyes. He grinned brightly at Naruto. "Hey, kid, I'm Matsumoto Hiraku. I'm one of the violinists in the advanced orchestra." He cocked his head and regarded Naruto curiously. "You're really good! You're kinda sloppy when you play, but otherwise you're alright. You like to play really fast too, don't you? I like playing fast, 'cause"

"Hiraku, shut up." Snapped a red-headed girl, and the boy rolled his eyes.

"That," He told Naruto, "Would be Mochizuki Hina. She's the violinists' biggest bitch. Secretly she wants to date that guy over there," Hibiki pointed towards a dark haired pale boy who wasn't paying Naruto or the others very much attention at all, even though most of the girls were crowded around him. Naruto stared, missing the rest of Hibiki's words. _What's wrong with that kid?_ He thought. _He's surrounded by girls and he's totally cool about it. I would kill to have that many people interested in me…_

Hina startled Naruto out of his thoughts, snarling at Hibiki about how absolutely intolerable Hibiki could be and that she didn't have a crush on a cold-hearted sophomore prick. The effect was totally lost, since she was blushing.

A boy with messy hair spoke up. "Is that guy going to be in the orchestra? That's _so_ unfair! I had to"

"Shut up, dog breath." Said Hibiki good-naturedly. "That's Inuzuka Kiba," he explained. "And he plays oboe. He's also got like, a bazillion dogs."

Kaida cleared her throat. "Hibiki, how about you sit down and shut the hell up now?" She said sweetly, fixing him with one of her impromptu glares. Hibiki wisely decided to follow that advice, and Naruto wondered how many other people shared his belief that Kaida was some sort of blood sucking vampiress. She also sent a glaze towards the Kiba kid, who suddenly decided that playing with his tie was a better task than recounting what he had to do to join the advanced orchestra. Naruto had to hand it to the girl, she could shut people up. Kaida glared at Naruto now. "I could've been home now," she said sullenly.

"Doing what? Burning down the house?" Naruto blurted, and Kaida shot a very evil I'll-kill-you-later look at him. Then she and Hina began to talk about something that included the student council, so Naruto tuned them out. The other students seemed to have lost interest in him, so he went back to gazing at the pale boy.

That boy had really dark eyes. Naruto wondered if they were actually black or if they were simply a really dark shade of brown. He sat and looked broodingly off into somewhere, occasionally making a slight movement. He was glaring at the stage at the moment, and Naruto took in the boy's profile. His features were pretty sharp and almost effeminate, too much like a girl's face.

Then the dark eyes flicked towards Naruto, and Naruto felt his breath catch. The boy regarded him coldly for a second, then nonchalantly turned his gaze back to the stage. Naruto frowned. _He was looking right at me. Why didn't he say anything? Well, I didn't say anything either, but…_ Naruto sighed and looked towards the stage. _And what's so interesting about the stage anyway?_

Kaida suddenly pushed Naruto. "Quit staring into space. We've got to go."

* * *

Suzuka hummed a happy song all the way home. Naruto was tempted to ask why, but she didn't seem to hear him or Kaida complaining when she decided she wanted to speed down roads where the speed limit was most certainly _not_ fifty-eight miles per hour.

She parked in Naruto's driveway, and jumped out of the car. "Well," She said, "I have to tell Iruka something important. Wait in the car, Kaida. Come on, Naruto."

Naruto wondered what Suzuka was going to talk to Iruka about, but didn't bother asking. He hurried up to the front door of his house, Suzuka following with a more leisurely gait.

Iruka was reading on the couch when Naruto got inside, but he looked up with excitement when Naruto dropped his violin case by the door. "How'd it go?" He asked.

"I don't know." Naruto said, somberly, and he went over the couch and flopped next to Iruka. "I'm never playing the violin again."

"What? Why not? You love playing the violin… well, you loved playing the violin," Iruka started, and Suzuka waltzed in. She smiled at Naruto again and then turned her eyes to Iruka.

"The date," She said, raising one eyebrow, "is the twentieth of this month, as in next week Thursday."

Iruka turned a very un-manly shade of pink, and Naruto looked between the two psychologists. "What date?" He asked, suspiciously.

Iruka smiled nervously. "Just a business meeting… with…" He looked over at Suzuka, who was better at lying than Iruka would ever be.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto," Suzuka said, easily. She didn't offer anymore information, which annoyed Naruto. He wondered if it had anything to do with him until Suzuka started to leave, when she tossed the parting comment, "Wear something nice," over her shoulder.

Naruto stared after her, then glared at Iruka. "A business meeting?"

Iruka tried changing the subject. "How about if we try something different for dinner tonight?" He said, getting up. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Iruka's back, but let the topic slide. "What do you want?" Iruka called from the kitchen.

"Ramen!"

"I said different!"

* * *

(1)- I didn't mention this before, sorry about that. For those who don't play instruments, have names (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G) and sharps and flats change a note in pitch. A flat makes the pitch lower, and a sharp makes the pitch higher. If you'd like to see this in action (it's not really _that_ exciting, though) just go over to a piano and press any key you want. the NEXT KEY to the left is it's flat and the NEXT KEY to it's right is it's sharp. Remember that the black keys count when you do this, okay?

(2)- B Major is the name of a scale.What are scales? Scales are eight _different_ notes that follow each other in a pattern (it usually begins and ends with the note the scale is named for, in this case, B). I can only explain this in piano terms, and since I'm not assuming that everyone who reads this plays an instrument, you can check it out on Wikipedia! Look up _**Diatonic Scale**_, that should get you to the right page. By the way... the easiest scale is the C scale. There are no sharps or flats.

(3)- A key signature denotes what scale a piece is played in.

(4)- Time signatures are the two numbers written at the begining of a piece of sheet music. They look like fractions. Their purpose is to indicate the meter, or time, of a piece. The top number on the fraction tells you how many beats per measure of music, and the bottom number tells you what note gets one beat. ((Time signature is really confusing when you have no idea about music, so it's a REALLY good idea to look this one up.)) Common time is denoted by a "C". It means the same thing as 4/4. If you see a "C" with a line through it, that's called cut time, and it's the same as 2/4.


	5. In Which There Is A Letter

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N: **Since I already wrote out this chapter, I figured I should put it out ASAP, 'coz otherwise... well, I would've forgotten, hehe. I got asked what instruments I played, so here goes: I am a fairly decent piano player... I've been playing since I was... like 4? And I'm about 17 right now, so I'm not bad, but I'm not like, an expert. Music Theory is my life. XD I also play the sweet potato ocarina, the one that was featured in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It's a pretty fun instrument, actually. And I play the trombone : 3, I was the lead trombonist in band (or that's what my band teacher said, anyway) and the steel drum, which is an instrument from the Carribbean, which is where I'm from. I hope that answers your question **mqlightloyalty3**! If you feel like telling me what instruments you guys play: D I'd love to hear it! I wrote this fic mostly because there are like... no music fictions out there... ((sigh))

I can't write out thank yous this time (because then this A/N would take FOREVER) so one big gigantic thank you to... **kyothefallenkit** , **IsolinaBlack** , **mqlightloyalty3** , **firedragonmaiden** , **shadowofhope666** , **Koolneko22** , **Black-Dranzer-1119**, **EllaCrain** , and **LittleCrane** (thanks for pointing out that typo, btw : D)

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **T**here **I**s **A** **L**etter **A**nd **G**aara **G**ets **A** **P**et

It was December tenth. Temari had reminded Naruto at least fifty times to buy her a Christmas gift that wasn't at the bottom of a cereal box this year, and Kankuro and Gaara had been given the duty to make sure that Naruto did so. Gaara didn't seem to care, and Kankuro just complained about how cold it was and how much he hated when it snowed.

"Isn't it early for Christmas shopping?" Naruto whined, making doe eyes at Gaara, who ignored him.

Kankuro snorted. "It's December." He mentioned, kicking a pile of snow into the street. The busy shopping district was covered soft white snow and bright Christmas lights, giving off an ethereal glow. Christmas was Naruto's favorite holiday (outside of his birthday and Ramen Day, which he had made up since he couldn't have Ramen Month). "As far as girls are concerned, it's too late for Christmas shopping."

Naruto crossed his arms and tried pouting. "So why can't we just go back to my house and play a game? I have Soul Caliber 3…"

Kankuro grinned. "Sweet," He agreed. "We should play! After we get Temari's Christmas gift."

Naruto groaned. Next to him, Gaara suddenly stopped. "What's up?" Naruto turned towards Gaara, who was watching something on a TV in a store window. It looked like one of those Christmas specials where Santa, despite living in the freaking North Pole, got the sniffles and some dimwit from some sunny place like Florida had to save Christmas. "Gaara, are you seriously watching that?" Naruto snickered.

Gaara gave him the evil eye. "The commercial." He said, simply. Then he started walking off, and Naruto and Kankuro had to jog to catch up.

"The commercial?" Naruto looked at Kankuro for help, and he was nodding sagely. "You have no idea what he's talking about, Kankuro!"

Kankuro smirked and shrugged.

Gaara sighed. "We need to go to a music store," He said, and Naruto grinned widely.

"But what does that have to do with the commercial?" Naruto asked. Gaara shrugged. "Well, whatever!" Naruto continued cheerfully. "What are you going to get? Ooh, is it my Christmas gift?" Gaara just tugged on the scarf that Temari had forced on him and ignored Naruto.

"What are you gonna get for Iruka?" Kankuro asked. "I figured he'd want that dolphin paperweight in Papyrus."

Naruto grinned. "A dolphin paperweight?" He laughed.

Kankuro shrugged. "I bet in a past life Iruka was a dolphin."

"And what were you?" Naruto asked, raising his eyebrow.

"A puppetmaster!" Kankuro grinned. "Gaara was a psychopath killer."

Gaara glanced at Kankuro and snorted.

"What was I, what was I?" Naruto asked.

Kankuro looked at him critically. "A fox." He decided. "A stupid one that lived for a long time."

"All rig— _HEY_!" Naruto glared at Kankuro. "I'm not stupid!" At this, both Gaara and Kankuro snorted and turned into FYE. "What is that supposed to mean?!" Naruto yelped, following them. The two brothers gave each other meaningful glances, then Kankuro patted Naruto's shoulder.

"You're still cool," He said emphatically.

Naruto fumed. "I am not stupid! I'm actually very intelligent."

"_Riiiiight_." Kankuro agreed. "So what are we here for anyway?" Naruto glowered at Kankuro and stalked off towards the DVDs. Gaara was already in one of the music sections, and Kankuro was floating in between, just listening to music or watching DVD trailers.

Naruto was in between buying Hostel or Hannibal Rising for Temari (who loved scary, bloody movies that Naruto couldn't watch without his stuffed bear) when someone said, "Hannibal Rising is better. Hostel's just a piece of crap." He nearly jumped out of his skin and turned around. A boy who looked sort of familiar grinned back at him. His teeth looked kind of sharp. "You're that violin kid, right? Kiba, Inuzuka Kiba. Remember?"

Naruto stared at him for a couple seconds, then grinned. "Oh! Dog breath!" He said, clapping Kiba's shoulder. "Course I remember!"

"Don't call me that!" Kiba snapped, rolling his eyes.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Naruto asked, putting Hostel back among the other DVDs.

"Early Christmas shopping."

"I knew it was too early to go Christmas shopping!"

Kiba agreed. "My sister's in love with this Japanese artist Nana Kitade. She practically ordered me to buy her CD for her." He rolled his eyes. "I don't even know where to start looking for that sort of stuff. And my internet is shot."

Naruto grinned. "You helped me out, so, what the hell." He waved Hannibal Rising at Kiba. "You can order it over there," He pointed to where Kankuro was playing with a computer. "After Kankuro gets off, I mean. You can even get it delivered to your house! You need a credit card, though."

"Really? Cool." Kiba grinned. "Normally I just Limewire music," he explained, when Naruto laughed at him.

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Who cares?"

"Eh." Naruto smiled. "I guess you're right."

Kiba picked up a DVD. "Might as well buy my mom a gift too."

"The Omen?" Naruto read, and then he cast a skeptical look at Kiba.

Kiba grinned. "She's my mom. She'll love whatever I get her. Besides, she loves this movie."

Naruto scoffed. "You mean, you love that movie."

Kiba shrugged. "It doesn't matter that I happen to like it too…"

"In that case," Naruto hurried over to the anime and grabbed the X/1999 box set, "Iruka would love these."

Gaara came over now, looking between Kiba and Naruto, then commenting, "I thought you wanted Trigun."

Naruto widened his eyes. "You mean it's here?!" He asked, dropping his things and shaking Gaara's shoulders. "I didn't get the last DVD! Where is it?!" Gaara brushed Naruto off and pointed to a set of shelves. Naruto almost ran over a little girl to get there, finally cradling the DVD in his arms. "I love you," He whispered.

"Dude…" Kiba murmured, "You're really, _really_ weird." Gaara just shook his head and shuffled off. Kiba looked after him and then turned to Naruto. "So who's that kid?"

"Who, Gaara?" Naruto stopped making a scene and grinned at Kiba. "He's my best friend. A little quiet, though."

Kiba nodded, then handed Naruto the DVDs that he had dropped in his mad dash to get the last Trigun DVD. "He listens to Cannibal Corpse." Kiba mentioned, and Naruto nodded.

"Yep. He likes this CD _Kill_ by them, I bought it for him last year."

"Are they allowed to sell that here?"

Naruto thought about it. "…Uh, probably not. But that doesn't matter!"

"Sure." Kiba rolled his eyes.

Naruto grinned at him. "I'm going," He said, cheerfully. "Now that I'm done shopping for today, I think I'll go play Soul Caliber 3."

Kiba grinned. "See you around, then," He said, and Naruto nodded, and then went to the register.

* * *

Naruto swung his bags giddily. Sure, he had just wasted his entire allowance on DVDs and Ichiraku's, but it was so worth it.

Now he just had to figure out what he was going to get for Gaara, Kankuro, and Suzuka. He almost added Kaida into his list, but then decided that he could just take the gift out of the bottom of his cereal box and give that to her. If that didn't work, he could always just give her a Cracker Jack box, or something equally as cheap. Bubble gum could even work.

He reached his house and went inside, depositing his dark winter coat on the floor and kicking his shoes off. Iruka wasn't home. Ever since the twentieth of last month, when he had that suspicious 'business meeting', Iruka had hardly been home since! Naruto had sworn to get to the bottom of the mystery, but ever since then he'd been too busy trying to avoid Temari's evil fan of doom. Temari was the only girl who could turn an innocent fan into a deadly weapon…

Naruto went into the kitchen and spotted a note on top of the mail on the table.

_Naruto-_

_I'll be back before dinner. Do your homework! I left my cell number on the fridge._

_-Iruka_

Naruto sighed. "I memorized your cell number already!" He complained to the note, but he grinned anyway and picked through the mail. Ichiraku's always sent out free ramen coupons, and Naruto had yet to receive his.

One letter was addressed to 'The Parents of Naruto Uzumaki' from Konoha Private Academy. Naruto picked at it curiously.

"It's about me, so I can open it!" He said aloud. "But Iruka hates when I go through his mail. But it's my mail too, because it's about me! But it's not addressed to me, so Iruka'll get mad. But it doesn't have Iruka's name on it, it has mine! But the last time I opened one of these things I got in trouble."

Rather than argue with himself, Naruto decided that he'd like to open the letter and see what happened. The letter enclosed read,

_Dear Mr. Naruto Uzumaki,_

_Thank you for showing interest in Konoha Private Academy. After reviewing your test results, we are sad to say that we cannot accept you at this time. If you would like to try again for next semester, we would be most honored to give you a new testing date._

Naruto put the letter down on the table. Suddenly he felt like counting things, lots of things, anything to get his mind off of Konoha Private.

It took eight steps to reach the door. His jacket and shoes were on in one hundred and twenty seconds, two minutes. When he stepped outside there were seven cars parked in their respective driveways. Fifteen people were milling about, playing in the snow or walking. Naruto started towards Gaara's house.

Naruto hadn't gone fifty steps before Gaara showed up, snow dusting his red hair and beige jacket.

"Oh. Gaara." Naruto smiled weakly. Gaara looked worried, but said nothing. He immediately fell in step with Naruto as the blond trudged on. "I didn't make it," He said finally, as they walked into a playground.

Gaara sat down on a swing after kicking the snow off. Naruto followed suit, and Gaara looked broodingly at the ground for a while, then murmured, "Sorry."

"Yeah. Me too." Naruto muttered, kicking snow and swinging listlessly. Gaara didn't look up, and Naruto kept swinging, finally beginning to babble. "I sort of expected to get in." He murmured. "I sort of thought I did well on the test. I thought I'd be in for sure. But I guess I was wrong. I'm just not smart enough. I bet you could've gotten in, Gaara. I guess after seeing my test and hearing me play they decided I wasn't even good enough to be in an orchestra."

Gaara looked up, but said nothing. Naruto continued to babble on, until Gaara said, "You were nervous."

Naruto looked at him. "What?"

The red head looked at the ground again. "You were nervous," He repeated. "During the test. During the recital."

"Yeah…" Naruto agreed. "I was nervous. Really nervous. Because… you were right. Maybe if I had gotten in, everybody wouldn't hate me there. Maybe they'd like me. Maybe I had a chance." Gaara nodded. "What am I going to do now, Gaara?"

At first, Gaara said nothing. The two boys sat in silence until Gaara got up and started off, and Naruto followed him. They walked to a little wooded area, where Gaara stopped and bent down. There was a hole dug into the snow Gaara reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the remains of a peanut butter sandwich in a sealed bag.

"What are you doing?" Naruto bent down too, watching as Gaara dropped the sandwich on the ground. A little raccoon scurried out of the hole and snatched up the sandwich. It looked up at Gaara and Naruto, finished the sandwich in a matter of minutes— close to one hundred fifty seconds, so two and a half minutes, Naruto noted— and disappeared into the hole again. "You feed raccoons?"

"Just this one." Gaara said. He stayed at the hole for a little longer, then said, "It's a kit."

"A kit?" Naruto asked.

"A baby." Gaara explained. "Temari hit the mother with the car." Naruto cringed.

"So you're feeding it?" Naruto asked. Gaara shrugged. "Ha! It'll think you're it's mother!" Naruto smiled at his friend.

"I don't want it to die." Gaara decided, and he stood up.

Naruto looked down at the hole. "Were you coming here before? When I ran into you?" Gaara nodded. "Won't the raccoon get used to you feeding it? It's a wild animal, you know. What if it has rabies?"

Gaara shrugged and stuffed the plastic bag into his pocket. "You should try to get into another school." He said, looking at Naruto critically. "Or try to get into Konoha again."

"Huh?" Naruto asked. Gaara turned and shuffled off, leaving Naruto at the hole of the raccoon. Naruto watched Gaara's retreating back and sighed. _Sometimes Gaara's so weird._ He thought. He looked down at the raccoon hole. _But he's reliable… and he's helping me, I think._ Naruto smiled and got up. _I'm glad Gaara likes me._ He decided, and he trudged back home.


	6. In Which Life Works Itself Out

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** Well! I'm back with another chapter! I took a break yesterday, hehe. And, in response to a review from **Michiru's Mirror**: XD I love Naruto the Trigun fan! As soon as I put the FYE scene in I was like, "TRIGUN!! YES!!" That is such a cool anime (hint hint... that means go buy the box set and make Yasuhiro Nightow a happy man). I kinda want to steal Wolfwood's cross. And his portable confessional. XD Okay, I'm done. And because I'm in a pretty good mood... I'll do one more review...**Lucious Coulter**: Thanks, I like to think I've got a pretty unique writing style (I over use parenthesis, though... I had to drop that for this story, but they're still...well... there). Your review made me really happy, so thank you very much!

Thank you very extremely much to: **kimisu** , **Michiru's Mirror**, **Gothic-InuFluffy**, **shadowofhope666** , **wormbate** , **Lucious Coulter**, **Black-Dranzer-1119**, **elloshort** , and **KawaiiKoneko89**!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **L**ife** W**orks **I**tself **O**ut **A**nd **C**hristmas **A**rrives

Naruto was pretending to sleep when Iruka got home. He was pretending, because once Iruka figured out why Naruto was in bed so early, he wouldn't bother Naruto while he stewed in his thoughts quietly. And that's what Naruto wanted right now.

But Iruka came upstairs right away and shook Naruto and called for him to wake up until Naruto was sick of pretending and opened his eyes.

"What?" He asked. Iruka was positively beaming, his dress shirt ruffled and his breath erratic.

"Naruto! I have _really_ good news!" He said, grinning widely.

"What is it?" Naruto groaned. "Where were you?"

"I was just out with Suzuka and Vincent," Iruka said breathlessly, "And we ran into your orchestra teacher."

"I don't have an orchestra teacher." Naruto pointed out. Iruka held up an envelope.

"Yes," He grinned widely, "You do."

Naruto looked suspiciously at Iruka and then took the envelope. He opened it and pulled out a letter. "…A scholarship?" He asked, surprised. "For the violin?"

"Kakashi said that you were nervous at first, but that you displayed undeniable potential and talent!" Iruka exclaimed. "He pulled some strings, and you're going to Konoha Private Academy next semester!"

Naruto widened his eyes in shock. "I'm going?" He whispered, and Iruka nodded giddily. "Iruka!" Naruto shouted, jumping his guardian. "I'm going to Konoha!"

* * *

"…so I'll be going there! Isn't that cool?" Naruto asked, as he and Gaara walked around town.

Gaara nodded and gave Naruto a small but rare smile. "I'm happy for you."

Naruto couldn't resist hugging Gaara, who tolerated him only for the usual three minutes before pushing Naruto off. "I'm really excited," He told Gaara, who nodded and frowned at something in his path. "But… I don't want to leave you and Temari and Kankuro."

"You're only going to school there." Gaara pointed out. "You're living here."

"Yeah, but I have to take a bus early in the morning so we can't walk to school together. And the work is all going to be harder so I won't have time to visit you guys."

Gaara looked at Naruto for a couple seconds, then shrugged. "You'll make time." Naruto frowned.

"But what if you get into more trouble at school?" He asked, and Gaara shrugged.

"People don't mess with me anymore." He said coolly, and Naruto decided to drop that topic before Gaara got angry. Their freshman year fiasco was a touchy subject for Gaara.

"We'll hang out everyday!" Naruto decided. Gaara said nothing, just shuffled along. Naruto hurried alongside him, chattering about Christmas and school, anything to clear out his mind. Gaara always listened.

When Gaara decided he was done walking around for the day and went home, Naruto went home himself, and even stopped to play with the little blind girl next door and her dog before going inside and nearly colliding with Kaida.

"You!" He yelped.

"I have a name." She muttered.

"Where's your car? I didn't see it in the driveway. What's going on?" Naruto asked, smiling at her. Kaida sighed, then shook her head at him.

"Suzuka took the bus today. Her car is in the shop. We came over to drop off your uniform and Suzuka wanted to talk to Iruka about how you were getting to school, and obviously she couldn't just leave me at home." Kaida grumbled. "I can't believe you're coming to Konoha."

"I can!" Naruto sneered, "And you thought I was too stupid to get in."

"When did I ever say that?" Kaida asked, raising an eyebrow. "I do remember saying the test was hard, but not that you're an idiot."

It breifly occured to Naruto that Kaida hadn't said that Naruto was an idiot (at least, not in that conversation) and that was kinda of...nice on her part. So he widened his eyes and asked, "Are…are you attempting to be…" He swallowed. "Nice?"

Kaida made a frustrated noise. "What is wrong with you?" she exclaimed, stalking into the kitchen. Naruto grinned to himself and observed the "Christmas tree", which was a big cardboard cut out of a tree with tinsel on it (1). Iruka always put it out before he bought a real tree and retired the cutout to the attic. It made things more festive he said, but Naruto just thought it was weird. It stood in the corner between the kitchen and the stairwell, and there were boxes beginning to pile under it. Naruto wondered which were his, and then jumped on the couch and started flipping through channels. Nothing could ruin his day. Not even bad quality Power Rangers. Or the Batman movie where Seal sung a song that really had nothing to do with the movie at all (2). He could even tolerate Barney (for about two seconds). Life was _so_ good.

And as Naruto always said, it could only get better.

* * *

Christmas came pretty quickly, since Naruto was in such a good mood (and time flew). Christmas morning, like usual, Naruto practically dive bombed down the stairs to reach his gifts (even though, as Iruka repeatedly pointed out, they were going nowhere), and Iruka scolded him and made him eat pancakes before he could go into the living room again.

"Iruka! Open mine first!" Naruto begged, holding out a green giftbox. Iruka smiled and took the box, then settled on the couch. Naruto sat underneath the _real_ Christmas tree and shivered with excitement. Gift giving was the best part of Christmas in Naruto's book. It was too bad that Christmas was usually so short though... Iruka had no family other than Naruto, and Naruto obviously had no family other than Iruka. But Naruto didn't mind... after all, he got presents!

"What is it?" He asked, and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Why do you always ask before you open it?" He teased. "Open it and find out!"

Iruka grinned and tore the paper off the gift. "X/1999?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto grinned. "You know. From you to me for me. There's more, take all the paper off."

Iruka ripped the rest of the paper off and lifted up a box. He looked suspiciously at Naruto and then opened the box. "A photo album!" he exclaimed.

Naruto grinned even wider. "Open it!"

Iruka let out a very un-manly squeal. "How did you…" He started. Naruto scurried over to the couch and looked down at his handiwork again.

Naruto laughed. "I asked Kankuro to Photoshop a bunch of our pictures," He said. "And since you like dolphins…" Kankuro had basically compiled a bunch of Naruto's favorite pictures of Iruka and himself (including the one where Iruka had smashed Naruto's face into a cake to shut him up at Gaara's birthday party and Gaara was standing behind them with a huge knife). Then he had put a big dolphin in the background. "It's good, right? It took me forever to find the picture of us on the rollercoaster."

"It's perfect. Thanks, Naruto!" Iruka hugged him and Naruto smiled cheerily.

"Do I get a gift? C'mon, gimme mine now!" Naruto begged.

"First," Iruka handed over the X/1999 box set, "Merry Christmas, from you to me to you." He said dryly.

"Oh you shouldn't have!" Naruto grinned.

Iruka rolled his eyes and went over to the tree and pulled out a big orange box with a blue bow. "This is yours," he said, and Naruto stared at the box.

"Oh my god! It's a TV for my room!"

"Uh… no. It's not the right size for that." Iruka shook his head. "How about you open it?"

Naruto wasted no time ripping all the paper off. "A new computer! And a flat screen monitor! And… rosin? Wow, that was really random! Thanks Iruka!" Naruto tackle hugged Iruka and they both ended up sprawled on the floor.

"Kaida bought you something," Iruka said, after the two had finished laughing and in Naruto's case, taken all the tinsel off their head. "Want to open it?"

"She did?" Naruto grinned. He had given her a pair of fake vampire fangs (she probably didn't need them) and a Cracker Jack box. Iruka picked up a small gift, and Naruto ripped it open quickly. "Aw no! It's another one of those What's Happening to my Body? books. And this one's for _girls_!" He tossed it onto the couch.

Iruka laughed. "It was a good surprise…"

"What am I gonna do with that?!" Naruto complained. Iruka's gift from Kaida was various scented bath oils. Naruto complained that Iruka always got the best gifts from Kaida, and he just smiled.

Next they opened the gifts from Suzuka (she bought Naruto a couple games for his playstation and bought Iruka some clothing), Kankuro (who bought Iruka the dolphin paperweight and Naruto a Swiss army knife that Iruka eyed warily), and Temari (who bought Naruto a book called Evil Genius and Iruka some CDs by an artist Naruto didn't know). There was also a mystery gift for Iruka, and no matter how much Naruto pleaded, Iruka refused to open it. Before Naruto could jump on the gift and tear the wrapping paper to shreds, Iruka brought the gift upstairs and put it in his room. Naruto hasseled him all the way, saying that he was "ruining the spirit of opening the damn gifts already" and Iruka just rolled his eyes and told him to stop cursing.

Iruka had gotten some gifts from his co-workers, and he opened those while Naruto contemplated opening Gaara's gift. Last year, Gaara gave Naruto a huge watercolor painting that Naruto put on his room wall. This year the gift was considerably smaller looking.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Iruka asked, as he stacked away the DVDs that he had gotten. Naruto nodded.

"I'm just trying to guess what it is! Gaara gets me really cool stuff," Naruto said, before tearing open the paper and lifting the cover off of the box beneath it.

Inside was a bright orange jacket with a thick white collar and an insignia on the arm on one side. There was a note also, which Naruto read. It said, _Your black one was too small._

"That's a pretty expensive coat," Iruka said, as Naruto took it out of the box.

"It's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed, hugging the coat happily. "Isn't it, Iruka?"

"Yeah, it's great!" Iruka agreed. "What did you get Gaara?"

Naruto smiled. "Well, you remember that big set of watercolors they had in the art store?"

"You bought him that?"

"No, I bought the acrylic set. He's been looking at those forever. He only buys the watercolor ones because he can't get the acrylic ones!" Naruto grinned. "He's gonna paint something great with it." Curiously, Naruto queried, "What did you get Gaara? Something big?"

Iruka smiled. "Well, Gaara doesn't really accept gifts, does he? I just gave his father one hundred dollars to include with whatever gift he got for Gaara."

Naruto thought about his green eyed friend. Gaara really didn't accept gifts very well. He always pushed them back and said that he didn't need them. At least Naruto had been able to give him something every year (which Naruto credited to his undying stubbornness).

Iruka said he was going to go make a few calls, which Naruto agreed was a good idea, and then Naruto rested on the couch and reflected.

This year was going to be a different year. A better year. Naruto was sure of it.

He'd miss hanging out with Gaara every day at lunch, but Naruto was sure he'd make new friends, and maybe— maybe— Gaara would become friends with them too. Naruto didn't want to forget Gaara.

This year he'd have to go to school with _Kaida_. Ugh. Maybe she'd finally stop being so stuck up? He hoped so.

This year… Naruto was going to go to a nationally recognized school that he didn't belong in. He was kind of saddened by that thought, but he thought it was pretty true, since he couldn't make it in with his test scores. He was just really lucky, that was all, lucky that the test wasn't the only way he could've gotten in. This year Naruto would learn to play the violin well. Very well.

This year, Naruto was going to start all over again. He was going to leave a town that hated him— and for what, he didn't know— and he was going to start attending a school where people didn't hate him.

So he had to change a little. No more big schemes, no more blowing up water mains… And now Naruto actually had to work, instead of just faking it like he used to.

He hugged his coat again. He hadn't been excited at first, but he wanted this change more than anything else in the world right now. He would make a good year out of the remnants of his expulsion… and he was going to show everyone that Naruto Uzumaki was a diamond on a beach full of rhinestones.

* * *

(1)- Don't laugh! My buddy's family does this!... Okay laugh, that _is_ the stupidest thing I've EVER seen.

(2)- In case you don't know, the song is Kiss From A Rose by Seal, and I have yet to see how that makes sense with the rest of the Batman movie. I like the song though, it was pretty popular... The lyrics confuse me a little bit. And I think it came from Batman Forever. The video for the Batman movie version is oon YouTube, someone watch it and tell me what they think!


	7. In Which School Begins

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** This chapter was really long when I first wrote it. And then I edited it. And then I got mad at myself for editing it so badly and wrote it over, and here is the final production! I don't know how good or bad it is, so you're going to have to tell me. I got a lot of e-mails yesterday, and I haven't checked all of them today... but from the looks of it, I have a lot of Story Alerts and Reviews! And, by the way **Lucious Coulter**, I have read Ranma 1/2 (it's by RumikoTakahashi, right?) and XD Kaida _is_ a lot like Nabiki! I hadn't noticed. My favorite character in that has to be Shampoo, she's so crazy. I also like the ending theme by DoCo, Akai Kutsu no Sunday.

Okay, and I'd like to thank... **LittleCrane** , **elloshort** , **Lucious Coulter**, **IsolinaBlack** ,**darktulip **, **kimisu** , **Gothic-InuFluffy**, **troublesome twins**, **EllaCrain** , **ObsessedReader**, **shadowofhope666** and **Black-Dranzer-1119 **. : D You guys make me happy!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **S**chool **B**egins **A**nd **O**rchestra **S**tarts

Naruto had never been good at following directions. Kaida had grudgingly taken him on a tour of Konoha Private Academy after Christmas, reminding him frequently to check his schedule for his classes and homeroom and so forth. And he hadn't.

He was supposed to be in 10-B for homeroom. But he kind of… had no idea where he was. So while other students bustled around him, he stood motionless at the far end of a hallway. Things could've been worse. He could've run into demon-spawn herself, and God knew Naruto had no intention of even pretending to know Kaida if they happened to meet in the hallway.

"Hey! Violin boy!" Naruto cringed and turned.

"I have a name," he accused, and Kiba grinned at him.

"I know, and it's violin boy, unless you've got something better than that." Kiba clapped his shoulder. "You lost or something?"

"Uh, yeah. Where's 10-B? And the name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

Kiba grinned at him."I know. And dude, you're in the freshman hallway, you're never going to find it here. C'mon." Kiba led him to a stairwell. "So you got into the honors homeroom, huh? Jeez, you must be smart."

"Honors homeroom?"

"Yeah, don't you know? Oh wait, you're friends with the Kiyohiko bitch, right?"

"Friends?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "I can't stand her. I think she sucks my blood or something." They went up a staircase and through another set of doors.

"Yeah, she's got a serious stick up her ass. Dunno what put it there. Her sister used to teach psyche here, and she was really cool."

"I know, her sister _is_ really cool…" Naruto let out a breath. "Maybe Kaida's just sad because she was a complete and total mistake."

Kiba laughed. "Bet you've never said that to her face."

"I did. I had a broken nose and two black eyes and I limped for about two weeks. It was awful," Naruto cringed at the memory.

"Sucks to be you. Anyone with brains knows not to cross that girl. She's scary evil," Kiba chuckled. "Anyway, B homerooms are honors homerooms. They're the kids who have the toughest schedules, you know, like the super geniuses. I was in 9-B last year, 'coz once you get into the advanced orchestra they throw some real hard material at you. But I can't cope with that, so they bumped me down to 9-A."

"You'd think A was advanced," Naruto drawled.

"I know," Kiba shook his head, then stopped at a room door. "This is your homeroom. You're so lucky, you have Kamizuki-sensei. You know who I got? Freaking Guy-sensei. Do you know they allow him to wear green spandex suits?" Kiba groaned. "It's so awful."

Naruto smiled apologetically at Kiba. "Try not to stare below the belt," he said helpfully, and Kiba snorted.

"I just try not to stare. See you first period."

"Uh, okay!" Naruto watched Kiba walk off and then opened the door to his homeroom. There were students talking and milling around inside, and they didn't pay Naruto much attention. He had to resist yelling "I'm here!" because he'd promised himself he wouldn't act like an idiot in his new school. At least not yet.

"Yo." Said a dark haired guy who was sitting at the desk in the front of the classroom. He had narrow dark eyes, and his hair was messy. Naruto wondered if he got full pay coming into work like he'd just rolled out of bed. "You're Uzumaki?" Naruto grinned and nodded. "Right. You're next to Uchiha."

Naruto looked around, expecting this Uchiha person to wave their hand and say, "Over here, new kid!" but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Luckily, the teacher came to his rescue.

"All the way at the back, third seat from the window. And I'm Kamizuki, by the way." With that, he turned his head to a little orange book— Did all the teachers here read porn? That had _better_ not be porn, Naruto thought— and ignored the class' chitchat.

Naruto's seat, Naruto realized, was currently flocked with blushing girls.(1) They were all pretty much cooing and making those weird squeal noises that Sai used to command from all females within his vision (before Naruto had gotten Sai expelled from their old school, but he wasn't going to walk down memory lane right now). If Sai wasn't there, then girls crowding Naruto's desk and cooing could only mean one of the following things: a, there was a lost puppy/kitten/cuddy creature in the room, and it was currently residing in, on, or around Naruto's desk; b, Naruto's desk exuded manly charm (Naruto was hoping that this was the reason); c, some sort of fairy/magical creature lived in the room; or d, they were just all having a strict girl moment.

So Naruto decided he'd like to go investigate. He swaggered over and politely asked for one of the girls to move so he could put his bag down.

She snarled at him. Literally. She turned around and fixed him with her icy blue eyes and snarled like she was a wild cat.

"Uh," Naruto said nervously, backing away from her. This appeased her and she turned back and started whispering to one of the other girls.

Naruto stood for two seconds, contemplating what exactly he was going to do.

He shoved his way right through the girls, who protested and yelled at him for interrupting whatever they were doing, plopped down into his seat, and then grinned up at them.

"Nothing to see here!" He said cheerfully.

"You again!" Said a pink haired girl. Her green eyes bore into him like heat seeking lasers. It wasn't a particularly enjoyable feeling. He remembered her and had to step on his foot (again) so that he didn't say, "So, any planes land since the last time I saw you?" and point at her forehead.

"Hi." Naruto grinned at her. He imagined a tiny helicopter landing on her forehead and grinned even wider.

"How dare you interrupt my precious moment with Sasuke-kun?" Her face softened from evil-killer-woman to amiable-bunny-lover when she said 'Sasuke-kun'. She even breathed it, like it was fragile enough to break if she put all her effort into saying the name so Naruto could decipher it.

"With who?" Naruto asked, frowning now.

She rolled her eyes. "Sasuke-kun!" She breathed again, though she was glaring at him this time. Naruto blinked.

"…So… who's that?"

"The boy next to you!" The blue eyed girl who Naruto had the pleasure of meeting earlier snapped. Naruto took this time to observe his surroundings.

Naruto was hoping he'd turn around and this 'Sasuke-kun' would be a puppy/kitten/cuddly creature, but, unfortunately his dreams were crushed, as there was a boy next to him. One who was watching Naruto and the girls with a blank look on his face. It was the pretty boy from before, at the orchestra recital, with dark hair and eyes and pale skin. Naruto was reminded of the little china dolls that Temari had in her room.

"You!" Naruto exclaimed, because no other words really came to mind. The boy raised his eyebrow and said nothing, just folded his hands up and looked away, resting his head on his hands. There was a wave of murmurings from the girls, and Naruto turned to face them again. "So, what's so good about him?" He asked conversationally.

Now there was silence. The kind of silence that made the people who were chatting on the other side of the room turn and looked questioningly towards the girls who should have been doing their finale of whisperings before the bell rang. Naruto imagined tumbleweed rolling across the floor of the classroom.

"What?" He asked, smiling goofily. "I _really_ don't get it. He looks like a girl."

"How…how dare you insult Sasuke-kun?!" a brown eyed girl cried.

"Sasuke-kun is perfect!" said another. Naruto was getting the feeling that this Sasuke was some sort of god, and he had made a big mistake.

"Sasuke-kun is the smartest boy in our year," snarled the pink haired one.

"And he's cute!" Said someone else.

Naruto scowled. "He looks like a girl."

"No he doesn't!" One girl protested. "He looks like an…an aristocrat!" There was a chorus of agreement.

Naruto crossed his arms defiantly. "He does _so_ look like a girl." He pointed at Sasuke. "And he looks like he's never seen daylight!" When he looked over at Sasuke, Sasuke was glaring at him. Naruto really wished he would say something.

"How dare you say something so cruel?" whined one of the girls. The others started proclaiming how smart Sasuke was, and Naruto decided that everytime he heard the name Sasuke, he died a little inside.

The pink haired girl crossed her arms. "Wait until gym," She promised. Then she glowered and shook her fist.

"Sca-ry." Naruto responded, and the crowd of girls walked off, giving Naruto death glares. The classroom, satisfied by the mini drama that had unfolded, resumed it's loud chatter. Naruto turned to the boy next to him. "Got rid of your girl problem for ya!" He said happily. "I'm Naru—"

"Shut up," the boy said, without looking at him. Naruto scowled.

"What the hell!" He complained. "I just saved your life! Well, not really, since I guess any guy would kill for a bunch of girls to harass them, but still!" The boy said nothing. He was staring off into space again.

_What's he thinking about? Do I have to fend off girls every morning for the rest of my life because of him? What's his problem anyway?_ Naruto scowled even deeper and reached into his bag for his schedule.

But he didn't get a chance to look at it. The bell rang, and students filed to their seats, sitting down and looking attentively at Kamizuki, who had put his little orange book down and stood up.

"Welcome back," He said, sounding slightly bored. "I'm going to take roll after I tell you some apparently important announcements." Some students snorted. Kamizuki sighed. "I know," He said, "It's always the same thing, but I have to say it, so shut up and listen." He picked up some papers off his desk. "There are six new extra curricular activities, and this year you each must be enrolled in at least one extra curricular, so if you don't like your current one, you can change. We've got… um, Literary Club, People Watching Club, Photography Club, Multicultural Club, Green Thumbs, and Environmental Club."

"People Watching Club?" Asked someone in the front row.

Kamizuki rolled his eyes. "A group of five students just got together and pretended they were doing something for behavioral sciences. The moderator is Jiraya."

"Oh, so it's a _perverted_ club," chimed a girl.

Kamizuki laughed. "Yeah, probably. Anyway, if you want information on the clubs, it's posted right outside the Student Government office. And, by the way, if you _still_ don't know, your president this year is Uchiha Sasuke and your vice president is Haruno Sakura."

Naruto looked over at Sasuke. _Him, president? Does he even speak?_

Kamizuki continued, "The school is going to have it's fiftieth anniversary this year, and all orchestras will be staying after this week on Wednesday and Friday and the week after next week to practice. The vocal ensemble and the choir will stay after on Monday and Tuesday of this week and next week."

"Aw man," muttered a boy.

"The performance is in the first week of February in our main auditorium." Kamizuki announced. "There's going to be a fundraiser for the sophomore class— that's you— so that you can go on a field trip. Let's try not to blow it this time."

"We didn't blow it last time!" a boy complained.

"Yeah, seriously! The money war was a stupid idea!" Said the blond girl that had growled at Naruto.

"Then make up better fundrasiers." Kamizuki said, nonchalantly. "Okay, now I'm going to take roll, so pay attention."

As Kamizuki started rattling off names, Naruto smiled to himself. This school was way different from his last one. Everyone seemed nicer here. Except for ice princess Sasuke Uchiha, but… Naruto figured that there was always someone like him in every school. Well, as long as Sasuke didn't ruin the rest of his day, Naruto would be fine.

* * *

First period was Advanced Orchestra with Kakashi. Kiba had walked with Naruto to the music room, introducing him to Shino Aburame, who was in Naruto's homeroom. Shino wore the weirdest coat and shades and didn't speak all that much. Kiba chatted with him nosily anyway, and Naruto was reminded of Gaara.

"So Hana took away all of Akamaru's special dog food! Do you have any idea how _long_ I worked on it? I mean, why is she punishing Akamaru when it was my fault the vase broke anyway? And Shino, you should've seen this vase, it was the ugliest piece of work I've ever seen. Hana's boyfriend bought it for her. That guy is _so_ stupid." Kiba shook his head furiously. "Maybe Chouji will help me make more dog food for Akamaru?"

"Who's Chouji?" Naruto asked.

"You'll meet him. He plays the tuba."

"The tuba? In orchestra?"

"Yeah, you've never played in a chamber orchestra before? Well, okay, we've got more than forty people, so it isn't really a chamber orchestra, but it's not a full orchestra either."

"Weird." Naruto commented.

"Yeah, I thought so too." Kiba sighed. "Me and Shino are the only oboe players."

Naruto stared at Shino. "…You play the oboe?" He asked. He wasn't sure if Shino looked at him or not, from behind the dark shades Shino was wearing.

Kiba laughed. "I asked him that too! You never see this kid's mouth, right? He sticks his oboe into a hole in his jacket. It's so weird."

Naruto grinned. "You're lucky you don't play the trombone or something!" He commented to Shino, who shrugged.

Kiba scowled suddenly. "Shino's real lucky though," He muttered. "He always gets the best seats."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Well, okay. Check this out. This year we got this really cute freshman girl. She plays the harp, so she has to sit at the way end…" Kiba looked wistful. "Shino gets to sit next to her because he's better than me at oboe. It's so _unfair_!"

The trio entered the music room, which was made up of staggered stairs. Most of the students were taking their cases out of a small instrument closet by the door. Kaida had made sure Naruto knew where this closet was, so Naruto's instrument was already there, since he had gone to the closet as soon as he got to school that morning.

"Oh!" Kiba grabbed his arm. "You have to meet everyone! And just ignore Hiraku, he likes causing trouble." Kiba glared over to where Naruto recognized dark hair bobbing enthusiastically, talking with a group of students.

"Whatever," Naruto muttered, allowing Kiba to pull him towards his friends. The group was made up of a long haired boy who was poring through a book, a fat boy who was eating something, a boy with a bowl haircut, and a girl with two buns in her hair.

"Hi gu—" Kiba started.

"KIBA!" The bowl haired boy yelped, turning and grabbing Kiba's free hand and shaking it enthusiastically. Naruto stared at the boy's eyebrows, he could have sworn they were talking to each other. And they were so huge! Did this kid use fertilizer on his eyebrows? "How was your joyous vacation?! I hope that it was bursting with"

"Springtime of youth, yeah, yeah." Kiba waved his hand. "Hey guys… This is Naruto. You know, violin boy."

"Stop calling me that!" Naruto complained.

"Just call him dog breath. He'll learn." Said the girl with two buns in her hair. "Oh. I'm Tenten, nice to meet you."

Naruto grinned at her and then asked, "So why do you call him dog breath?"

"'coz," said the overweight boy who had a bag of chips in his hand, "Kiba eats dog food."

"For the last time, it was an accident! I picked up Akamaru's lunch instead of mine!"

"Look, we're not saying this to be mean," Tenten said, smirking, "But packing a brown bag lunch for your dog is just _insane_."

"It is not!"

"Sure is weird though," Naruto put in, and Kiba glared at him. Naruto chuckled and shrugged.

Lee took Naruto's hand and shook it feverishly, introducing himself in a flurry of words, most of them being 'of youth'.

The overweight boy finished his chips and introduced himself as Chouji. "Oh, Shikamaru's gonna be here in a little bit. You'll like him," Chouji promised, "he's really cool."

Naruto nodded. Lee did too, and Naruto wondered if something was wrong with him.

"This is Neji," Tenten said, pointing to the dark haired boy who hadn't looked up yet. "And he's the president of the senior class student council. He's trying to finish something…" Tenten smiled. "He's really dedicated! He'll talk to you when he's done, but right now, he's in a whole different world."

"Neji's always in a whole different world," Kiba muttered, and Tenten gave him a severe look.

"So," Tenten said, turning to Naruto, "was everything you were saying before true? You memorize music?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Naruto was trying to shake of Lee's killer grip, but was failing.

"Every detail?" Tenten asked, looking surprised. "Wow… You probably don't know this, but… have you met Sasuke Uchiha?" Naruto scowled, and Tenten chuckled. "I guess that's a yes. Sasuke memorized Orchestral Suite No.2. The whole thing. I mean, not just the violin's part, every part for every instrument in the entire piece."

Kiba sighed. "He memorized it in like, two days. We had to play it last year, see? And no one memorizes the long songs that we have to play. I mean, everyone can play Mary Had A Little Lamb from memory, but nothing long…"

"Sasuke probably sees you as a challenge," Tenten said, shrugging. "Doesn't help that you're both violins either."

"_No_." Naruto uttered, in horror. "Tell me he plays… uh, oh god, I dunno. Tissue comb, maybe, but not violin. He can't play violin."

Tenten smirked. "He. Plays. Violin." She said, accentuating each word with a jab of her finger.

"Why me?! What cruel, unfeeling god would do this to me?!" Naruto moaned.

Neji looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Who is… Oh, the new kid." He focused gray eyes on Naruto. "I'm Hyuuga Neji…" He said, slowly, and then he asked, "Could you keep it down?"

Naruto apologized and Neji nodded, giving him a small smile before going back to work.

Tenten chuckled. "Why don't we get our instruments?"

Chouji who had been working through a bag of barbeque chips, suddenly exclaimed, "Shikamaru!"

A dark haired teen with hazel eyes slouched over to them. He looked at Naruto, then sighed. "The violin kid?"

"What the hell?! It's Naruto!" Naruto complained, and Shikamaru made a face.

"Che, you're so loud."

Chouji grinned. "This is Shikamaru," He told Naruto. "He's a musical genius!"

Tenten scowled. "Yeah, and it's totally unfair."

"How is it unfair?" Naruto queried.

Kiba grumbled, "Shikamaru wrote a song for the school last year, and we played it at this huge competition and won. He got special treatment for the rest of the year. And this year. No one even cares if he goes to sleep in class."

"No one cares because Shikamaru's smart," Chouji insisted. Shikamaru sighed.

"Can we not discuss this?"

"What year are you? You weren't in my homeroom," Naruto asked Shikamaru. The ponytailed boy blinked and responded:

"I'm a junior, like Chouji."

Tenten grinned widely. "Me, Neji, and Lee are all seniors."

"Me and you are the only sophomores in this little group," Kiba explained. "But you probably'll recognize some of those kids over there," He pointed to where a bunch of girls were crowding.

"_No_, not them..." Naruto whimpered. "Kiba, I want to go to the _dumb_ homeroom. You don't know what I did this morning."

Kiba grinned. "But I'd love to know." He said slyly. The bell rang and Neji put his book away.

"We should get our instruments now," He said, and then he frowned. "Even though Kakashi-sensei will be five minutes late." Everyone else agreed, and the group hurried to the instrument cabinet.

* * *

(1)- I'm just going by the show here, but when Naruto first meets Sasuke, there's a crowd of girls standing around his desk area... so I put it in here too. But I don't know how realistic it is for a bunch of girls to crowd a hot guy EVERY day, XD


	8. In Which Naruto is Given a Lesson

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** In advance, I'm just going to say that Konoha's school schedule is a little weird. To make everything work out completely, I had to work together my high school schedule and my middle school schedule (because unfortunately at my high school, there was no music class D :) It's a bit hard to follow, but... After a while you'll either get used to it or ignore it completely, since I only go into like two classes and lunch period. (I stress the 'ignore it completely' option.) Moving right along! Today I'd like to tell everyone that I am _very_ suprised that girls actually crowd the popular boys! (don't they ever feel kind of... stupid? I would! XD) At my old high school there were more girls than boys.. so we ignored them XD

If you got two e-mails saying that I uploaded this chapter, forgive me. For some reason, Naruto's schedule kept deleting his 8th period class... damn uploading crap. It should be fine now, but eh. Who knows.

Domo arigato and merci beaucoup to... **elloshort** , **firedragonmaiden** , **Lucious Coulter**, **kimisu** , **Gothic-InuFluffy**, **ObsessedReader**, **Moondancingwolf** , **shadowofhope666**, **KawaiiKoneko89** , **LittleCrane** , **angelic theif**, and **EllaCrain**: 3

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **N**aruto **I**s **G**iven **A** **L**esson

Just as Neji had predicted, Kakashi didn't show up until ten minutes after the bell. But by that time, Naruto had counted out all the heads. Sixty-three people in this orchestra. He had even counted them out by instrument.

There was Hinata, who Kiba explained was Neji's "un-creepy" cousin, leading Naruto to believe that there was a "creepy" cousin somewhere in the school, and she was the only person who played the harp. And, Naruto remembered, she was a freshman.

Next to her were Kiba and Shino, and they were the only two who played oboe. Kiba was chatting with Shino, and Shino was either ignoring him or talking to the bug on his music stand.

There were only two clarinet players also, and they were Shikamaru and Neji. Naruto was almost jealous that all his new friends got to sit with each other. Tenten also played the clarinet, but she made it pretty clear that she was the _bass_ clarinet, and not the _clarinet_ clarinet. Naruto didn't know the difference, since it all sounded like snake charming to him.

There was one piccolo, and that was played by a senior girl that Tenten called Yoon-ji. The two girls seemed like really good friends.

Next to Yoon-ji were two bassoons, played by two girls, both juniors. Kiba had pointed them out to Naruto while the two of them were in the instrument closet. There was a third bassoon, a _contra_bassoon, which a boy played. Again, Naruto couldn't tell the difference. Was it the size, or what?

Sakura, the pink haired girl from his homeroom, played the flute. And the scary blond girl who growled was called Ino, and she played flute also.

Down on the next step were five French horns, all male players, and next to them, three trumpets, two girls and one boy. Naruto already liked the trombonists, the twins Haru and Haruka. They had run into him in the instrument closet and both seemed to be pretty friendly. Kiba said that since they looked so alike, sometimes they switched uniforms and came to school as the other twin. Naruto thought that was hilarious.

There was one bass trombone (Tenten took the liberty of explaining that to Naruto also), played by a senior, Seto Hayate. Apparently he was the senior class Vice-President. Lee sat next to him with his English horn, and Chouji was the last on the stair, with his tuba.

The next stair was all violins. Sixteen violins! Naruto surveyed them. Hina and Hiraku were both violins, and obviously Sasuke was also. Naruto glared at him, then sighed and looked away. Naruto was sitting next to a nice senior, Watanabe Hibiki, who had kindly accepted Naruto into the group, while some other violinists turned up their noses.

There were eight violas, and Naruto couldn't recognize any of them, on the step after Naruto's. And five double bass players sat next to them. On the last step were eight cellos, none of which catching Naruto's interest.

Hibiki explained to Naruto that the orchestra met everyday, first period, and then throughout the week, had private lessons. "We're taught by Kakashi-sensei," Hibiki said. "But he's not the only one who conducts private lessons. Almost all the staff can play an instrument or sing."

"So we all go together?" Naruto asked.

"No," Hibiki told him, "You go according to grade, since you go during a lunch period."

"You mean I have to miss lunch?"

Hibiki laughed. "You bring your lunch to Kakashi-sensei's office and eat it there. Then you'll play for the rest of the lunch hour."

"Hour?" Naruto widened his eyes. "We get an hour for lunch?"

"Not quite," Hibiki grinned. "You can only have study halls that correspond to lunches in this orchestra. Technically, you miss lunch and study hall. But I usually spend that time eating lunch. But I'm a senior," Hibiki explained, "And I have two study halls, so I don't go during my lunch study hall."

Naruto frowned. "So all of this and I don't even miss a class?" He complained.

"Not at all." Hibiki grinned widely.

"I hate this already."

"You'll get used to it," sympathized Hibiki. "And besides, you and Sasuke are the only sophomores who play violin. Most of us are juniors."

Naruto frowned. "You mean…you mean I'm alone with _Sasu-bastard_?!"

Hibiki snickered. "Hope you never say that to his face. He'll kill you."

"Tell me there's a way out," Naruto pleaded. "Is there a loophole? Some way I could just not go?"

"Sure," Hibiki said good-naturedly.

"What is it?!"

The green eyed boy grinned. "Survive until next year."

Naruto was about to complain when Kakashi strolled in. "Sorry I'm late," He announced, "but I was stuck on the highway when I noticed that there was a funeral taking place and the coffin fell out of the undertaker's truck, so I"

"We don't believe you," The class roared.

Kakashi put his hands over his ears. "Maa, maa… it's a really exciting story!"

"It probably happened in a movie!" Someone said.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei, why can't you ever come in early like normal teachers do?" Someone else complained.

Kakashi only eye-smiled— Naruto could tell from a distance— and asked everyone to tune their instruments before handing out music sheets

"At least he remembered the music this time," muttered one of the French horns.

"He _never_ forgets the music," another snapped back.

Kakashi was speaking. "As you know, we'll be playing the Brandenburg Concerto I for the fiftieth anniversary of the school," He said. "Can anyone tell me who it's by?"

Naruto blurted, "Bach." Then sixty-three pairs of eyes turned towards his. And then Kakashi looked at him and eye-smiled again.

"You're supposed to raise your hand," He said, nonchalantly. "But since you were so eager to tell me the answer, you can also explain a little bit of Bach's history."

Naruto cleared his throat. "Uh… Bach was"

Kakashi held up his hand. "You have to go to the front," He said, gleefully. Naruto scowled and got up, going down to the front of the classroom.

"Bach was" He started again.

"What was his name?" Kakashi blurted.

Naruto rolled his eyes and began again. "Johann Sebastian Bach," He glared at Kakashi, who must have been eye-grinning by now, "was an organist in the Baroque period. He was German." Naruto hesitated. "What else?" He asked, looking at Kakashi.

"Tell us some of his works." Was the curt reply.

"Alright… Bach wrote the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the English Suites, the St. Matthew Passion, and more than two hundred cantatas." Naruto added, "But his best known orchestral work is the Brandenburg Concertos."

Kakashi nodded. "You can sit," He said. Naruto, glad he hadn't embarrassed himself further, scurried back to his seat.

Hibiki smirked at him when he sat down. "And now you know why you should never blurt in class. You got it easy this time."

"What do you mean?"

"See that boy over there?" Hibiki pointed to a viola player with shocking crimson hair. "That's Jurou. He asked to go to the bathroom once without raising his hand, and Kakashi changed the song that we were playing to Swan Lake's Dance of the Little Swans. Then he walked around telling us to 'imagine the little swans swimming in the cool blue water but not to imagine waterfalls or fire hoses' because we were supposed to be imagining still water. Even _I_ had to go to the bathroom by the end of class."

"And Jurou?"

"Well, let's just say swans aren't his favorite animal," Hibiki snickered.

* * *

**Naruto's Schedule**

_1__st__ period: Advanced Orchestra………………………………………Hatake Kakashi_

_2__nd__ period: Honors Geometry…………………………………………_ _Genma Shiranui_

_3__rd__ period: Honors English 10…………………………………………_ _Jiraya_

_4__th__ period: Chemistry……………………………………………………_ _Anko Mitarashi_

_5__th__ period: _

_Lunch (shift 2)_

_6__th__ period: Home Ec. 2: Cooking………………………………………_ _Shizune_

_7__th__ period: Gym…………………………………………………………_ _Guy Maitou _

_8th period: French………………………………………………………Yuhi Kurenai_

* * *

So far, Naruto had decided that his teachers were all very strange. Like, what was up with Kakashi and his mask? He'd asked Hibiki after class, and Hibiki said that every time Kakashi took it off, people blushed. That didn't really give Naruto too much information. Kakashi had said that Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to come to his office during lunch today, which Naruto wasn't looking forward to. 

Shiranui had this gravity defying piece of senbon in his mouth that just pissed Naruto off (even though it did look kind of cool). Kiba said that last year he had made the dumb mistake of making a bet with one of the juniors about when the piece of senbon would fall, and managed to lose fifty dollars. Apparently Shiranui was an adept at playing the viola and the double bass.

Jiraya was perverted. And that pretty much only _started_ his problems. He was perverted, and he wrote porno books under a pen name. And how did Naruto know that? Because Jiraya had said so right at the beginning of class, really, _really_ proudly, as if it was a good thing.

Anko was normal. She didn't let the class call her by her last name, and Naruto thought she was pretty cool, but if one out of four teachers were normal, then there was something wrong with the school!

Kiba pushed Naruto. "Stop daydreaming or the pizza'll be all gone."

"The pizza _is_ all gone," Naruto pointed out. "There's only vegetarian."

"I know," Kiba said. "But look!" He pointed into the cafeteria towards Hinata. She was eating vegetarian pizza.

"Dude, you're so retarded." Naruto muttered.

"C'mon! It'll give us something in common!"

"Except that you don't like vegetarian pizza, do you?" Naruto moved forward and picked up a microwavable ramen cup.

Kiba snatched the last slice of vegetarian pizza. "Eh, I'll learn to like it."

"Mm-hmm." Naruto murmured dryly. Kiba glared at him.

"You should be more supportive!"

"Yeah, but the key word is _should_." Naruto made a face at Kiba, who rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I think she likes you, so you don't have to pretend to like what she likes."

"You do? Hey, wait a second, you haven't even talked to her!"

"So?" Naruto went over to the microwaves and water, preparing his ramen. "Neither have you, and you're about to go over and eat tree-hugger pizza with her."

"I don't think tree-huggers would appreciate that which is vegetarian pizza," Kiba decided. "And plus, I _have_ talked to her. Since before you came, actually!"

"Yeah?" Naruto stuck his ramen into the microwave and set the time, turning to Kiba, smirking. "Only when Neji was around, I bet."

Kiba turned red. "S-So what?!" He spluttered. "At least I talked to her! And I sit with her at lunch, when ever I have the chance!"

Naruto grinned. "You probably only said 'hi' to her!" He teased. "Because you're too scared to actually talk!"

"Shut up." Kiba scowled.

"Aww, was I right?"

"I said shut up."

"Maybe you should buy some tic tacs for your dog breath, then she'll want to talk to you."

"God damnit, Naruto, shut the hell up!"

Naruto smiled cheerily and retrieved his ramen. The two boys paid for their lunch and Kiba high tailed it for Hinata's table, never noticing that Naruto wasn't following him. Naruto smirked and hurried into the hallway. If his luck held, Kiba wouldn't notice until he was right next to Hinata and her friends that Naruto had completely ditched him. Naruto was sure he'd get an unnecessary punch in the head for this performance…

Now he just needed to find Kakashi's office. Luckily, Sasuke came out of the cafeteria at just that moment.

"Oh! Sasuke!" Naruto grinned at him, and Sasuke glowered at him.

"What do you want?" He asked irritably.

"Jeez, what crawled up your ass and died? All I wanted to know was where Kakashi's office is." The dark eyed boy didn't gratify Naruto with a response, just started down the hall. Naruto sighed and followed, looking at Sasuke's lunch as they walked through the hallway. "…You like spicy stuff much?" Naruto finally asked. Sasuke said nothing, despite the fact that he only had chili on his tray with the words 'extra-hot' on the side and he had two packets of hot sauce. "Do you ever, like, talk?" Naruto queried. "Or do you just stand around looking like an idiot when people talk to you?"

"It's better than looking like an idiot all the time, isn't it, Dobe." Sasuke tersely responded.

"Oh, _wow_. That really stung." Naruto rolled his eyes. Sasuke didn't respond, and Naruto continued, "I have a friend like you. He doesn't like to talk much either. And I think he wants to kill my whole old school. You're not going to blow up the school, are you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes." Naruto snorted. "So now that we understand that you hate everyone and everything, can you at least tell me how exactly you're going to kill us all?"

"Could you maybe shut up so I can hear myself think?"

"You must think mad slow if it takes you a whole day to get one thought through your head. What are you thinking about, how much of an asshole you are?"

Sasuke turned to Naruto, quiet. For a second, the two boys stared each other down, and then Sasuke smirked. He put his tray down on the ground and for a second he stayed down, looking like he was tying his shoelaces. Then all of a sudden, he shot up with one of his packets of hot sauce, pushing Naruto up against a wall and pinching his nose. In this process, Naruto's (hot) ramen splashed onto his shirt, and he yelped in pain, only to find that Sasuke was filling his mouth with (also hot) hot sauce. Since he couldn't breathe in through his nose and he desperately needed air, he gulped down all of the hot sauce and particularly stingy air as well.

"…F-_Fucker_…" The blond panted, glowering up at his dark haired counterpart. For his part, Sasuke smirked and picked up his tray, starting off again. Naruto had no choice but to put himself together and follow, though he silently mourned his ramen. He didn't talk to Sasuke anymore, but that was mostly because speaking hurt the back of his throat. Damn, that boy was vicious! Naruto wished he had water. He also wanted to know what the hell was in that hot sauce.

Finally Sasuke turned into a room and slammed the door in Naruto's face. Naruto slowly counted to two (his target had been ten) before kicking the door open and hoarsely accusing Sasuke of having an icy cold dagger stuck up his ass. Sasuke set his tray down on a table and looked over his shoulder at Naruto, their eyes connecting for a brief second.

_His eyes are really black… like onyx or obsidian._ Naruto thought. Then he shook his head. _No thinking about his eyes! That guy's a bastard._

"You can sit," Sasuke said, going into a mini-fridge behind a desk. Was he allowed to do that? Naruto put his tray down and moved to one of the chairs warily.

"Did you booby trap the chairs?" He scowled at Sasuke, who opened a soda and raised an eyebrow at Naruto.

"I wouldn't put forth that much effort to trick you, dobe." He replied, taking a drink. Naruto frowned and sat down.

Nothing happened. Naruto was sort of relieved though he was still on edge. When Sasuke just drank his soda and said nothing, Naruto began to relax.

"Where's Kakashi?"

Sasuke frowned. "Who knows." He muttered, tossing the soda can into a recycling bin and picking up his lunch.

"If he was going to be late, then why did we come early?" Naruto scowled. Sasuke sat down next to Naruto and started eating, ignoring Naruto's complaints until Naruto's stomach growled. Both boys looked at each other. "Eh he he." Naruto grinned nervously.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes, going back to his food. Naruto looked over at his ramen. He couldn't eat it now that it was… well, spilled!

"Sasu-bastard," Naruto started.

"Yes, Naru-whore?" Sasuke asked conversationally, and Naruto exploded:

"What the hell is your problem anyway?!"

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Sasuke said, without looking at Naruto.

"First you don't give me the time of day, then you pour hot sauce down my throat, then you sit down and have lunch with me! Are you bipolar or what?" Naruto's stomach growled again.

Sasuke sighed and handed over his tray. "Eat the rest." He said.

"And now you're sharing your lunch with me!"

"Don't," Sasuke glared at him, "Get it twisted. I just don't want to hear your stomach anymore, _dobe_. It's as loud and annoying as you."

"Well, excuse me, _teme_, but we wouldn't be having this problem if you hadn't molested me in the hallway!"

"I didn't molest you," Sasuke objected.

"Molest, murder, it's all the same when it comes to you."

"I didn't murder you either."

"Well, you tried!"

"Like I said, I wouldn't put that much effort into killing you, dobe."

"So you're admitting that you were trying to kill me!"

Sasuke sighed. "Eat the food." He muttered, rubbing his temples.

"No! You have to explain yourself!" Naruto responded. Then he pouted. And his stomach growled again. Sasuke only glared at him when he didn't eat, so Naruto lifted a spoonful of the chili to his mouth.

Moments later, a blond boy spitting fire went running into the bathroom.

* * *

Kakashi had finally come to his office. Naruto was sporting semi-permanent red cheeks and a messy shirt, and Sasuke looked as unruffled as ever. 

"So, Naruto," Kakashi said, obliviously passing over the blond's reddened cheeks, "Tell us about you."

Naruto scowled. "Muh name is Naruhto…" He said, mostly muffled because he really couldn't make certain sounds with the top of his mouth as raw as it was, "An' I'd like to kill Sasuhke."


	9. In Which Society Is Explored

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** I'm sooo mad that I decided to take this story slow but it's so worth it right now becase... I wrote the first ever lemon scene for this story yesterday : D. Downside, of course, is that it doesn't show up for... well, a while, D : And that's really annoying me because it took me like, seven chapters to introduce Sasuke! Stick with me people, this will all be worth it in the end... promise.

My last chapter was supposed to be funny XD if you hadn't already gotten the notion. Sometimes I have the worst sense of humor, and people are like "WTF is your problem?" XD Anywho... of course I'd like to thank my reviewers!:...**Black-Dranzer-1119** , **LittleCrane** , **Gothic-InuFluffy**, **I've Got The Curse Of Curves**, **hyperdude** , **IsolinaBlack** , **elloshort** , **DarkOne90000000000** , **milo the ninja**, **ObsessedReader** , **fan girl 666**, **shadowofhope666** , **Crimson mist** , **Kamiko-Miha**, **EllaCrain** (I missed your heart!), **firedragonmaiden** (XD and I love your cookies!), and **Frayedsoul** . Whew. I might have to stop doing this, hehe. okay, okay, on to the next installment...

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**I**n **W**hich **S**ociety **I**s **E**xplored **A**nd **T**ears **A**re **S**hed

Naruto scowled the whole bus ride home. Four classes with the bastard. Four! And it would have been really good if in those four classes, he didn't get paired up with him, but _no_— Sasuke was a U name just like Naruto was— Uchiha came right before Uzumaki, so they were paired up in Gym and sat next to each other in French. And in cooking, when Naruto thought he would be grouped with Kiba and Shino, he had been shifted into a group with yours truly, _Sasuke fucking Uchiha_.

In cooking, Naruto found out that he was grouped with Sasuke and the pink haired girl who hated his guts, Sakura. They were asked to make a menu for a perfect restaurant. Naruto listed all his favorite ramen flavors and called his restaurant _Ichiraku's_. Sakura called her restaurant _Strawberry_ and had a bunch of girly things in it. Sasuke just didn't name his restaurant, but his foods rivaled those of Chouji, who was a gourmet (or so Kiba said). Then, the ice-princess-bastard-child had proceeded to smirk at Naruto and call him shallow! Naruto fumed for the rest of class.

In gym, they had played basketball. Naruto was on skins, and Sasuke wasn't, which was somewhat of a relief, but Naruto was expected to keep an eye on Sasuke because no one else wanted to. Ono Hiroshi, one of the viola players in advanced orchestra, told Naruto never to let Sasuke touch the ball because "Uchiha's got a killer three pointer". Naruto spent most of the day being trampled on by Sasuke while their gym teacher yelled about playing to their hearts content as the sun bounced off the healthy skin of youth.

And in French, Sasuke was so good that Naruto had to continuously say, "…Quoi?" and ask "Repete, s'il vous plait,(1)" but that was probably because Naruto had slacked off so much at Seishun High that he couldn't speak basic French at all.

Luckily, Sasuke hadn't joined the People Watching Club because he was in Student Government. Naruto and Kiba had signed up when they found out that Shikamaru and Chouji had helped start the club. It was every Tuesday until the end of the year, which Naruto didn't mind. They just wrote in a journal about the people that they saw and then 'shared' if they felt like sharing. Kiba had decided that his target was going to be Hinata, and Naruto had pointed out that if he just stood around watching her, it was the same as stalking.

Naruto was a little worried about English and Chemistry. He'd always had a problem with those classes. English was easy enough, when you looked at it the first time. But then there was so much stuff that he needed to know along with it, and he couldn't process all of them. They were words, and unlike numbers or notes, he couldn't package them neatly into a part of his brain and know that they were definite. Words changed too much, there was always a double meaning, and it wasn't the same as having a double root or all real numbers in math. Words were confusing. And Chemistry, Naruto just couldn't understand chemistry. Maybe it was just because he couldn't see what he was trying to learn— in math, the numbers were printed out in black and white and even if they weren't, Naruto could just write them down… In Chemistry, Naruto couldn't draw oxygen or carbon, because they were invisible, and even the little diagrams of the atoms and particles did nothing for Naruto. Iruka promised that he'd get Kaida to help if Naruto started to slack in those two subjects.

Naruto got off the bus and looked around. Sure enough, Gaara was waiting for him, just like he had promised he would. "Gaara!" Naruto cheered, running over to the red head and tackle hugging him. Gaara pushed Naruto off and held out his hand. Realizing Gaara was offering to carry some of Naruto's things, Naruto cheerfully handed over his violin. "How was school?" He asked. Gaara shrugged and started walking towards Naruto's house. Naruto followed, chatting about his day. "…so then he practically kneed me in the balls, and Guy-sensei said that it was just a 'test of my reproductive youth'! Can you believe Guy-sensei let that bastard get away with harming my future children?!" Naruto complained.

Gaara smirked. "You talk too much," He said, and Naruto whined:

"Well, you didn't tell me about your day, so I was telling you about mine!"

"What does it matter, anyway?" Gaara asked, as the two turned up into Naruto's yard. "School was boring."

"Sucks! You want to play a game?" Naruto asked, and Gaara shook his head.

"Do you still have American Gods?" Gaara asked. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, But don't you want to do something other than read?" Naruto whined again. Gaara shrugged.

"What's the orchestra like?" He asked, and Naruto perked up again and told Gaara all about the orchestra. They dropped Naruto's things in the living room and went up to Naruto's room, where Gaara picked the book American Gods off of Naruto's shelf and stretched out on Naruto's bed to read it.

"Promise you'll come to one of the practices after school, Gaara?" Naruto asked, going over to his computer.

Gaara shrugged again. He seemed engrossed in the book, so Naruto left him alone for a little while, watching Bleach on his computer.

Gaara spoke up suddenly. "Let's go to Ichiraku's," He said, and Naruto looked at him, surprised.

"But you hate when we go there! Remember? I ate fifty bowls and you paid for them?" Naruto reminded him. Gaara just looked at Naruto, his eyes asking _are you turning down ramen?_ So Naruto rose and jammed on his shoes and the two went back out into the cold. "Do you have free tickets for Ichiraku's or something?" Naruto asked.

Gaara nodded. "Temari got them for you." He said, nonchalantly.

"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly. "How come?" Gaara just shrugged again, and Naruto frowned at his friend. "I told Sasuke that you were alike, but you're not."

"Hm?"

"Yeah… 'cause, you don't talk a lot, you know? I don't know why. You're smart, too…" Naruto paused. "He doesn't talk a lot either, and he's really smart. Especially in cooking… Sort of like how you're good at art. Is cooking an art? Anyway, you're sort of alike, but not really. Everyone likes Sasuke… but…" Naruto looked sadly at Gaara. "Why don't you take the exam and go to Konoha too?"

Gaara looked at him. "Where ever I go I am going to be hated." Gaara said, finally.

"But why?" Naruto asked.

Gaara looked away. "Because of who I am." He said.

"What? Because you're Gaara?" Naruto asked. "That's stupid, Gaara! Why would people hate you for being you?"

Gaara responded, "They're doing it now, aren't they?"

Naruto reached out and stopped his green-eyed friend. "But that's because they hate you _here_," he said. "In Konoha, they won't hate you!" He turned Gaara to face him, eye-to-eye with the boy. Gaara was silent for a while, staring beyond Naruto, and Naruto wondered if he was going to respond.

"They hate me for who I am." Gaara repeated. "And wherever I go, who I am will always show. So no matter where I go, I will be hated." He glanced at Naruto. "Do you understand?"

"_No_," Naruto sulked, "I don't. Why? Why don't people like you, Gaara? Why don't people like me?"

"We're strange." Gaara told him. "And that's all."

"Because we're _strange_? What's strange about us?"

Gaara shrugged. "Do you know much about society?" He asked. Naruto shook his head. "You know the little girl next door to you?"

"What about her?"

"What do people think of her?"

"They feel bad… because she's blind," Naruto said, frowning. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Society pities those who have disabilities." Gaara said. His voice was idle and calm, but flashes of what Naruto thought could be anger flickered over Gaara's face. "But only certain disabilities. The rest of the disabilities, they only gain contempt."

"You mean…you have a disability?" Naruto asked. Gaara didn't respond. "But what, Gaara? You don't have a disability… do you?"

"You don't have a disability." Gaara avoided Naruto's question.

"But _you_, Gaara, do you?" Naruto pleaded.

Gaara turned into Ichiraku's and didn't respond to any more of Naruto's questions.

* * *

"Iruka," Naruto queried at dinner. The cheerful adult looked over at him. "What's wrong with Gaara?" 

"What do you mean?"

"He has a disability, right? What is it? What's his disability?"

Iruka looked confused. "What are you talking about, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at his hands. "Gaara won't apply to Konoha. He says there's no point because everyone hates him for who he is. He told me that society only pities some disabilities but not all of them. Does Gaara have a disability? A bad one?"

"I think Gaara should tell you that."

"But he won't tell me, Iruka!" Naruto whined.

Iruka shook his head. "If Gaara wants to tell you, then he will."

"But he's not like that! You know that!" Naruto moved his rice around on his plate. "He'll just avoid talking about it or not talk at all. I want to know what's wrong with him, Iruka!"

Iruka started eating again, and Naruto counted how many times Iruka's eyes flicked to the phone— ten— before he folded his hands. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes— I mean, I want to help him!" Naruto explained, looking up at Iruka, who smiled sadly.

"Then you'll have to ask Gaara's dad, you understand."

"Call him!" Naruto begged, and Iruka finally decided to get up and call Gaara's house. There was a short conversation, mostly on Gaara's father's side, and then Iruka hung up.

"Listen," Iruka said, sitting down at the table again. "I want to tell you that Gaara's condition isn't exactly confirmed yet, but his father says I can tell you a little bit." Iruka had stopped eating, his mood changing. It reminded Naruto of the times when he was younger and had asked a question to which there was no simple answer.

Naruto sat up straighter, determined to find out what was going on. "What can you tell me?" He leaned forward.

"Gaara doesn't have a disability. Gaara has a personality disorder." Iruka said, finally. "Antisocial personality disorder."

"What is that? What does it mean?"

"It means," Iruka said, "that Gaara doesn't like to conform to the norms of society. It means that he feels indifference towards others feelings. It means that his behavior is impulsive. And… it means that he's always been that way…He's always had this disorder."

"But…" Naruto frowned.

"We think that Gaara is going to be diagnosed when he is eighteen." Iruka said. "Because of… the incident last year."

Naruto frowned. "…No."

"Yes," Iruka said, frowning. "Because there are three criteria for antisocial personality disorder. Last year, how old was Gaara during the incident?"

"Fourteen. He turned fifteen two months later," Naruto said, looking thoughtful. "But the police didn't say he had a disorder!"

"Of course not. The police _did_ want to get him into a juvenile hall; if it weren't for your constant help, Gaara would be gone." Iruka smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, the incident fits into two categories of conduct disorder, and since it wasn't caused by schizophrenia or some other maniac episode, once Gaara turns eighteen, he'll be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder."

"…" Naruto pushed his plate away. "But he talks to me," He faltered. "And he has a pet raccoon. He's not bad."

"It's not bad to be…to have a disorder." Iruka corrected himself.

"But you're saying Gaara's a sociopath!"

Iruka sighed. "That word has a bad connotation to it, doesn't it?" he frowned. "Gaara isn't a bad sociopath. I mean, I don't think the police are ever going to arrest him."

Naruto shook his head. "How do you know? Just _one_ incident and he's a sociopath?"

"No, Gaara's behavior tells us that he's developing it. Think about it, Naruto… sometimes, is Gaara aggressive?"

Naruto thought back. Gaara didn't always show it… but sometimes, sometimes he'd get really angry and hurt people… but only the ones that bothered him. "Yeah…" Naruto paused. "But he has a reason to be! People annoy him."

"Naruto…" Iruka shook his head. "Do you know _why_ people annoy Gaara?" Naruto shook his head. "A symptom of this disorder is the inability to make or keep friends, you know."

"But he _did_ make a friend! _I'm_ his friend!"

"You're persistent, Naruto. That's why Gaara likes you. You didn't give up on him. You're probably his only real friend, outside of his family." Iruka hesitated, then continued. "Gaara doesn't feel remorse when he causes people pain. He can tell you things that hurt without knowing that they hurt you."

Naruto knew that. Gaara always did that, said something that really stung Naruto in the most conversational of voices. "…I know."

"He doesn't care for his own safety. You know that." Naruto remembered how many times Gaara would walk into the road when a trunk was coming, or disrespect the wrong people, the kind who toted guns and slept with hammers under their pillows. Naruto frowned, trying to find some sort of loophole.

"But…" Naruto started, and then he paused, backed down, and looked at his hands again, his eyes watering up. "…what about before the incident? Why do they hate him? Did they know it back then too? Is it because he doesn't sleep very much? Why do they hate Gaara so much when he can't help but be that way? Why is Gaara that way anyway? Is this some sort of cruel joke or something…?" He asked, crestfallen. When Iruka just looked at him, Naruto launched into more questions, ending in, "Can we help him?"

"I'm sorry…" Iruka murmured. "I don't know."

Naruto's vision blurred. His heart sunk. Hadn't he known Gaara all his life? Wasn't Gaara the nice little boy who gave him a stuffed bear? Wasn't Gaara the one who pushed him on the swings when everyone else was pulled away? Wasn't Gaara the one who had poked Naruto in the heart and said, "does it hurt right here?" when Naruto ran away for the first time when he was six? Wasn't Gaara the one who chased all of Naruto's nightmares of a lonely life away? He couldn't be a sociopath… he couldn't. He just couldn't. He had a pet raccoon, didn't he? He couldn't be a sociopath…

But Iruka wouldn't lie, would he? Naruto felt hot tears drip down his cheek.

"…Gaara…"

* * *

(1)- Oh la la, francais. I speak a little French, enough to get me by, but relax, you shall probably never see it again! Quoi is "what", and Repete, s'il vous plait is "repeat, please". 


	10. In Which Naruto Plays Nice

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** _Notice:_ If you didn't already get the new Harry Potter book, DO SO IMMEDIATELY! I'll be finished with my copy by tonight XD so I really want someone to talk to about it for tomorrow. Yes... I am a dedicated reader, so bite me. Also, I really don't expect a lot of reviews for this chapter because I expect you people to be dedicated to your Harry Potter books (but if you aren't, drop me a review).

_Also Notice:_ I don't know about you guys, but I've been pissing myself off by how slow this story moves... but I can't randomly speed it up (that would be weird). I can, however, post two chapters a day, and I will be doing that until Thursday. On Thursday, I'll be leaving and I don't know when I'll be able to update. So it'll seem like it's moving faster when it seriously isn't. XD

At the moment I'm too lazy to put all the reviewers names in, but know that I was REALLY happy to get so many reviews (and yes, I too want GaaraxNeji... I don't know if I'll add it in or not, but hey! It's a possibilty).

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**I**n **W**hich **N**aruto **P**lays **N**ice

The news about Gaara startled Naruto throughout his first few periods. He didn't really register doing anything, since he was so busy processing what he just learned. His friend, Gaara, was he really…

"Hey?" Naruto jumped, then grinned apologetically at Kiba.

"Sorry. I was… thinking."

"Yeah, we've noticed," said Haruka.

"Want to tell us about it?" asked Haru. The twins and Kiba sat at Naruto's table during lunch, although Naruto felt that Kiba was only sitting with him because there was no room at Hinata's table. The twins just liked Naruto in general, and since they were both in his Geometry class, Naruto had a chance to talk with them. They were pretty nice.

"It's alright. I need to figure it out on my own."

Haru and Haruka gave each other meaningful looks, their hazel green eyes locking in some sort of serious twin debate. Finally, one spoke. "Well, if you feel like talking…"

"We'll all be here to listen!" the other smiled brightly.

Kiba whined, "Stop completing each other's sentences!"

"Why?" The twins asked at the same time. Naruto had finally figured out how to tell them apart. Haruka's hair was longer than Haru's but she kept it braided. Haru's hair wasn't as long as Neji's but it was the same style. Sometimes Naruto got their descriptions backwards in his head.

Kiba groaned. "Naruto, make them stop!"

Naruto chuckled. "I think it's kinda cool."

"It is!" Haru agreed.

"Super cool," Haruka smiled. "Besides, it's the easiest way"

"To get on your nerves," Haruka finished, smirking at Kiba.

"Argh, I hate you!" Kiba complained.

The cafeteria was crowded today, Naruto noticed. There was someone sitting alone, nearby the door. Naruto squinted, then frowned. "Sasu-bastard doesn't sit with anyone," He noted.

Kiba looked up. "Yeah, he's too good for the rest of us," Kiba rolled his eyes. "Or so he thinks."

Naruto shrugged and took a bite from his burger. Haruka sighed.

"He is really pretty though, isn't he?" She asked, looking at Sasuke.

"Ew, Haruka." Haru insisted, "He's just really girly looking."

"So are you," Kiba pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't have a fan club," Haru grinned.

"I don't think that's why he has a fan club," Naruto mentioned. "All the girls in my homeroom seem to think he's like a god."

Haruka frowned. "Sasuke is a survivor," she said. "A survivor of a terrible accident."

"What?" Naruto asked, interested.

Kiba sighed. "This gets old fast, trust me," He told Naruto.

Haru nodded, but motioned for Haruka to continue.

"The reason why I don't bother Sasuke," Haruka admitted, "is because I don't think attention is what he really wants right now."

"What's wrong? What happened?" Naruto queried.

"Sasuke's family is gone." Haruka said, gravely. "All of them, except for Sasuke and his older brother."

"But how?" Naruto asked.

Haru shrugged. "It was a really graphic murder. We don't know much about it. They haven't found the killer."

Kiba picked at his fries. "My mom trains police dogs," He said, and Naruto looked towards him. "and I heard that there was no scent trail. The only people who had been in the house were Uchihas."

"So what do you think it was?" Naruto asked.

"We don't know." Haruka said. "All I know is that Sasuke changed afterwards. He wasn't always mean, you understand."

Haru sighed. "He was nice when we were little."

"Now he's just cold."

"And he's always alone."

"Sasuke is a mystery," The twins concluded together. Kiba groaned again, and they nodded at each other.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and frowned.

* * *

In cooking, group seven (which was Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto), stared at the recipe they were supposed to be making. 

"It sounds easy," Sakura said, and she shyly smiled at Sasuke, who ignored her. "Are you ready to start, Sasuke-kun?"

"Do I even _exist_ in this group?" Naruto grumbled. Then he squeaked in falsetto, "Are you ready to start, Sasu-bastard?"

Sakura glared at Naruto. "You're so immature." She sniffed.

"And this is coming from maturity defined," Naruto drawled. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm more mature than you!"

"Yeah right."

"I am!"

"Not."

"Am!"

"Not."

"Am!"

"Not."

"Shut. Up." Sasuke growled finally, and Sakura immediately followed orders. Naruto, however, didn't have that sort of dedication to Sasuke.

"Make me!" He challenged. A smirk rose on Sasuke's face and Naruto quickly remembered what had happened to him yesterday. He paled.

"Are you sure you want that?" Sasuke asked nonchalantly.

"…" Naruto frowned and picked at the sheet in front of him. "Let's just make the macaroons." He muttered. "At least they're chocolate."

Sakura nodded, and she looked over the directions. "I'll get the ingredients!" She said, getting up and hurrying to the table in the center of the room where Shizune, the cooking teacher, left all their non-refrigerated supplies.

Naruto built up his courage and finally meekly asked, "Sasuke?"

Sasuke barely batted a lash, but his onyx eyes slid over to and connected with Naruto's absolute blue ones. At first, Naruto was surprised at how quickly Sasuke responded (seeing that, in Naruto's mind, the boy was practically deaf; when Naruto screamed at him to move, Sasuke would stand completely still), and then he was amazed to find that Sasuke hadn't said anything evil yet. Nothing at all. He was just waiting for Naruto to talk!

"…uh…In orchestra…" Naruto faltered. Sasuke maintained eye contact, and Naruto took a deep breath. "InorchestracanIsitnexttoyou?"

"What, usuratonkachi?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Can I sit next to you…? In orchestra?"

Sasuke frowned. "You sit next to me in every class we're in together. What, do you like me, dobe?"

Naruto scowled. "No! I just…" He thought about how similar Sasuke and Gaara were. He didn't want Sasuke to end up like Gaara… He didn't want Gaara to end up how he was either! "I just…" Since he couldn't think of a reason, he frowned and looked pensive.

"You can do what you want, dobe." Sasuke pointed out. Naruto looked up.

"So I can sit next to you?" Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Naruto jumped, then snarled, "You better not booby trap the chair!"

"I told you," Sasuke smirked, "I wouldn't put forth that much effort to trick you."

Naruto muttered, "But you would if it was to _kill_ me."

Sasuke said nothing, just looked back down at the recipe.

Naruto curiously asked, "Sasuke?" And again the dark eyed boy looked up, this time a little annoyed.

"What?"

"You can sit with me at lunch. Or I'll sit with you. Okay?"

Sasuke looked mildly surprised, then suspicious. "What's with your sudden interest in me?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.

Naruto was going to answer, but Sakura came back.

Naruto felt cold, calculating obsidian eyes on his back for the rest of class.

* * *

"Why would you do that?" Kiba moaned, as he and Naruto did their twentieth lap around the soccer field. Even if it was January, they did it heartily. Why? Because they were goaded on by Guy-sensei's youthful speech (which they were all running _away_ from, while Guy chased them mercilessly around the field, yelling "As each of you grows, your bodies become beautiful blooming flowers in the springtime of youth!" Naruto wasn't sure if it was a pep talk or a sex talk). 

"Well… it's just that yesterday I thought about a lot of stuff, and I just… don't want Sasu-bastard to become mental, that's all."

"You're too nice, man." Kiba said, as some unfortunate student wailed when Guy caught up to him. "Oh damn, run, Naruto, _run_! We'll talk later!"

So, ten laps later, Kiba and Naruto hid under the bleachers and continued talking.

"But you're being insane," Kiba said, frowning. "Do you know who Sasuke Uchiha is? A bastard. A bastard with a capital F for fucking bastard."

"C'mon, Kiba! I bet he's not that bad once you get to know him."

"Yeah. I have a feeling he's _worse_," Kiba scowled.

"You're full of shit, you know that?"

"Shut your trap, violin boy."

"Kiba, come on, you have to at least try to be nice to him…" Naruto begged. "You can say all the mean things to him that you want!"

"To his face? Are you _psycho_?" Kiba shook his head. "You're friends with Kaida. You almost got killed by her once. _What makes you think Sasuke is any kinder_?"

"Err… instinct?"

"Naruto, your instinct _sucks_." Kiba said.

"Yours does too!" Naruto exclaimed, and Kiba shook his head.

"No it doesn't! You see, I have acute instinct! It comes from training dogs. That's why there's no possible way we could get caught here unless I feel it coming along and"

"Ah ha! You have chosen a spot to hide where the bright sun cannot magnify your glorious youth!"

Two screaming sophomore boys went flying for the school seconds later.


	11. In Which Friendship is Overrated

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** _STOP!_ I updated twice today. So if you haven't read the previous chapter, do so: D Thanks for reading!

Also, this is a link to the song that Sasuke and Naruto play in this chapter. Chrono Cross Time's Scar NOT Scars of Time, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I play the piano part of this song a lot. I tried to get one where you only heard the violin, since neither of them play the piano part, but there's no really good ones out there. so:For just the violin, visit: www. youtube. com /watch?v (equals sign here) hA9TD0cYd40

Remember to take out the spaces and put in the euqals sig. No offense to the player... but ergh... that one really isn't that good. There's no one who plays it the right way... although there is a concert piece, check that out. The original version of the song is EVERYwhere on YouTube, just type in Chrono Cross Time's Scar.

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **F**riendship **I**s **O**verrated

It had only been two days since Naruto had decided to sit with Sasuke, and Naruto was seriously regretting it. Sasuke pranked him in homeroom (he had tied Naruto's shoelaces to the desk during roll call), Sasuke pranked him in orchestra (he pinched Naruto's arm so that he blurted out random things in class), Sasuke pranked him in cooking (he spilled oil down Naruto's shirt), Sasuke pranked him in gym (he stepped on his feet in basketball) and he pranked him in French (He would rewrite Naruto's sentences to that they included bad words). Naruto was seriously ready to punch Sasuke in the face.

"Teme."

"Dobe."

Naruto plopped down next to Sasuke and took out his violin. "Don't touch me." He warned.

"I don't want to," Sasuke said airily.

"…bastard." Naruto muttered, running his bow over some rosin. Sasuke either didn't hear or pretended not to hear, only took out some music and set it on their music stand. Naruto had already memorized Brandenburg Concerto I, so he never brought his music.

Naruto had learned the perks of sitting with Sasuke though. For one thing, Kakashi never called on him anymore, probably because Sasuke exuded the don't-look-over-here aura. And Sasuke had an expensive tuner, which was fun to play with when Naruto had finished tuning his instrument. Naruto mostly just liked to talk to Sasuke, even though Sasuke would tersely reply "Usuratonkachi, shut up."

"Hey, Sasu-bastard. Want to hear something cool?" Naruto asked, looking hopefully at Sasuke, who said nothing. The rest of the class was warming up, but Sasuke was fiddling with his cell phone. Naruto decided he'd play for Sasuke anyway. He raised his violin and started to play.

In his head, Naruto could see all the notes, every measure. He could name every note when he played them and every rest, which he took this opportunity to do.

He was at his favorite part, the twenty-ninth measure, where he played sixteenth notes (which he thought were the most fun notes to play on a violin), when Sasuke stopped him.

"What is that?" He asked.

"Huh? It's Time's Scar. You know… Chrono Cross?" Naruto grinned. "It's really good, isn't it?" When Sasuke didn't answer, Naruto said, "If you want, I'll tell you the notes! It's in cut time, E minor, and"

Sasuke scowled, cutting him off saying, "You need a piano and a flute to play that song."

"Yeah, so what?" Naruto scowled back.

Sasuke smirked at him. "I can play the violin and the piano parts of that song." He said, and then he gave Naruto a very uncalled for sneer. "You play the violin badly."

Naruto felt his face turn red. "You play it then, Sasu-bastard!"

"Tell me the notes." Sasuke lifted his violin and settled it down in the crook of his neck, then looked expectantly at Naruto, who scowled at him.

"Fine, but I won't be able to tell you what types of note they are, so you'll just have to remember. I can't say 'sixteenth A' really fast."

"The song is mostly sixteenths." Sasuke muttered. "And I remember you hold the last note. Tell me the notes."

Naruto sneered, then began reciting the notes. "Low A, B, B, rest, B, B, B, B, C, C, rest, C, C, C…" Sasuke definitely played it better. He was so much more attentive to the notes than Naruto was... and besides that, he made the song sound a whole lot more passionate. Naruto was sort of jealous, but he recited the notes up to the fifteenth measure when someone interrupted.

"That's pretty good!" Naruto squawked at the voice and whirled around. Hiraku grinned at him. "Hey, Naru-chan. What's got your panties in a bundle?"

"Hiraku-sempai…" Naruto sighed. "Jeez, you scared me. What's your problem?" Sasuke had put his violin down and was glaring at Hiraku, who waved his hands innocently.

"I just wanted to see what my Naru-chan was up to," Hiraku grinned toothily at Naruto. "Since you decided to sit with pretty boy Sasuke, Hibiki's been getting lonely."

Naruto looked over at Hibiki, who was talking to one of the viola people. "He is not!"

"Sasuke's never been so chatty in his whole entire existence," Hiraku observed. He smirked. "Have you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke sent a smirk right back at Hiraku. "Leave. Now."

Hiraku patted Naruto's head and commented, "oo, silky" and received another glare—Naruto's— before retreating to his own seat. Sasuke ignored Naruto for the rest of class.

* * *

Today Naruto decided to sit with Hinata, who blushed whenever Naruto talked to her, for lunch. Her friends giggled excitedly when he and Kiba sat down at the table. 

"Hey," He greeted, and the girls shyly greeted him. Kiba grinned wolfishly and turned to Hinata.

"So how was math? You said you were having trouble, right?"

"Uh… yes." Hinata smiled at him. "Just a little bit."

One of Hinata's friends with cropped scarlet hair grinned widely at Naruto. "I'm Akane." She extended her hand to him. "You don't sit with us often. You're Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Hey, yeah! How'd you know?" Naruto asked, shaking her hand. "You've been stalking me, right? I knew I was just too sexy to resist."

Akane laughed. "Okay, no. Get that notion out of your head." She giggled. "Hinata talks about you _all_ the time."

"Akane!" Hinata flushed.

Akane only chuckled. "She's a poet, you know? You should read some of her poetry, it'll really get your mind racing."

"Akane!" Hinata whined, and her friends laughed.

"Naruto-sempai," Said a girl with orange hair, "You hang out with Sasuke-sempai, don't you? That's so cool!"

"Yeah," Agreed another girl, "That's really cool, that he puts up with you, I mean."

Naruto shrugged. "I deal with him, that's all."

Akane's dark eyes twinkled. "Well, since you're both drop dead sexy, it only magnifies your oh-so-holy sexiness."

"Yeah, I'm totally schooling Sasu-bastard in the sexiness, aren't I?"

"Dude, shut up." Kiba rolled his eyes.

Akane turned her attention to Hinata and Kiba. "So how's the winter romance coming along?" She asked, grinning when Kiba shot her a glance.

"You love trouble, don't you?"

"I breed it." Akane shrugged. Kiba complained that Akane was trying to "steal his thunder", so the two started arguing about what the phrase actually meant.

Over the raucous arguing, Naruto asked, "Hinata, do you really write poetry?" Hinata flushed.

"Y-Yes… Lots of poetry." She smiled shyly. "W…W-would you…" She trailed off, twiddling her fingers and looking anywhere but at him.

Naruto didn't really understand what that meant, so he grinned. "I'd like to read some, sometime. Maybe after the orchestra practice afterschool today! Sound good? Or tomorrow, since we have practice tomorrow too."

"O…okay!" Hinata wavered, looking up at Naruto and turning an even deeper shade of red. Confused, Naruto watched her curiously.

"Naruto-sempai," asked one of Hinata's friends, "What are those marks on your cheeks?"

"Huh? Oh, these?" Naruto touched his cheek and grinned. "Just old scars. They never healed up well, huh?"

"They're cute!" a girl exclaimed. "They make you look like you have whiskers!"

"I don't know if I want whiskers," Naruto said indecisively, and the girls laughed. They talked for a little longer about classes and so forth, eventually breaking up Kiba and Akane's argument ("Dude, just agree that she's right," Naruto had said. "M-maybe.. you should agree to disagree?" Hinata had asked. Kiba of course chose to do as Hinata wanted, but Naruto didn't care, so long as Kiba shut up).

At one point, Naruto looked up and his eyes trailed over to that table by the cafeteria doors where Sasuke sat alone again. He willed himself to look away, but then he imagined Gaara sitting there all by himself. Naruto pushed away from the table and picked up his tray.

"Well, I'll talk to you guys later!" He told the table, grinning as the girls bemoaned his sudden leaving.

"Naruto-sempai, why don't you stay for the rest of lunch?"

"Yeah, come on, Naruto-sempai!"

Naruto shook his head. "I gotta do some stuff." He said. "But I promise I'll sit with you tomorrow too. Okay?"

"Fine, but you better not forget," Akane smiled brightly.

Naruto grinned and went to the trash can, dumping out the contents of his tray and leaving his tray in the bin on top of the trash can, and then hurried to Sasuke's table, when he slammed his hands down, causing the dark haired boy to jump at least a foot.

"Sasu-bastard! Nice to see you're still eating lunch all alone in a corner! What's your problem anyway, don't you like people?"

"Quiet." Sasuke said. That was mostly what he told Naruto to do. Well, that and "shut up". Naruto ignored this, slipping into a seat across from Sasuke. For a while, Sasuke ate his lunch in silence, while Naruto tried to figure out what was going on in his counterpart's head. Was Sasuke thinking about something important? Every time Naruto wanted to talk to him, Sasuke was thinking. _He better have some damn good thoughts,_ Naruto decided. _And they better not be about porn!_ He briefly imagined Sasuke poring over porn and had to laugh. Sasuke gave him a severe look that said _if you want to chat with the voices in your head, please go somewhere else._

"Don't you want to talk to people? And when I say talk, I mean they speak, you respond, you know?" Naruto asked, conversationally. Sasuke glared at him. "See, we need to work on your people skills."

Sasuke raised a delicate eyebrow. "We?" He snorted, finishing his rice.

"You, me," Naruto waved his hands in the air. "Other people, maybe? You could talk, then maybe eventually we'll find someone to pull the big icy rod of death out of your ass."

Sasuke looked thoughtful. "You know, you're right, dobe." He said, finally. Naruto blinked.

"I am?" He asked. Sasuke nodded, suddenly looking downcast.

"You see, the reason I don't talk to people is…" Sasuke trailed off.

"What?" Naruto asked, interestedly.

"…It's kind of… embarrassing." Sasuke said, without looking up. He fiddled with a packet of soy sauce, and flicked his eyes towards Naruto, then looked quickly away when he seemed to realize Naruto's gaze was focused on him. Naruto, recognizing all normal signs of guiltiness and embarrassment, moved over to the seat next to Sasuke, excited that he was making a breakthrough.

"Tell me! I won't tell anyone." Naruto promised.

"Well… in that case…" Sasuke abruptly lashed out and tipped Naruto's head back, then poured some of the soy sauce down Naruto's nose.

"_AUGH_!" Naruto's yell reverberated through the cafeteria. "YOU BASTARD!"

Sasuke cleaned up his tray and handed Naruto a napkin. "You shouldn't be so clumsy," He scolded.

"I am going to _kill_ you!"

Sasuke snorted and started towards the trash can.

"Damn good actor…" Naruto muttered, blowing his nose into the napkin, and then giving another enraged cry when he saw the dark liquid on the napkin.


	12. Cookie: Cooking Class

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** I finished HP and the DH yesterday, and all today I got forced to like fifteen different book thingies to discuss it. I hate that! Well, I like discussing books, but I hate having to go all over the place for it... plus, I read really fast, so people always say that I'm skimming and test me on things that happened in the book. ARGH, don't you just hate that? Okay, done complaining. : 3 It's a good read, people, you'll like it!

I got so many reviews, I'm really happy! Thank you all very much for liking my sense of humor; I like it too XD. I also got a lot of story alerts and favorites, for which I am very pleased, yay! This is a cutsey chapter that I wrote up... and I figured I might as well post it today, since I can't very well post two chapters today... maybe I will, just for kicks. Prolly not, though. I might go through this and correct various errors...There are a lot of them, XD btw, I was asking in a review what usuratonkachi meant. Usuratonkachi means moron, like baka. At least, that's what my sister's Japanese teacher says. So if that's wrong, bring it up with Keiko-sensei, not me... I only know basic Japanese, sorry guys... But I can direct you to the bathroom in Japanese, if you want XD

o0o

**C**ookie: **C**ooking **C**lass

Naruto had spent two weeks at Konoha, and he had to admit, the school was pretty fun (even if most of the teachers were sort of… weird). He had a big group of friends (especially in the People Watching Club, which was only perverted when Jiraya needed to do some 'serious people watching') and was doing well in most of his classes, though he got plenty of help from Gaara. Most importantly, he was actually liked in Konoha Private, because people thought he was funny and pretty much amiable. It felt good! He wished he could give Gaara a piece of his happiness too, but Gaara didn't care about getting into Konoha.

He shuffled into cooking class with Kiba, who looked forward to this class everyday.

"I'm _so_ happy I'm in group eight," Kiba said, like he had said everyday for two weeks straight. "I got so lucky you came here, Naruto! Otherwise I would've been paired with _him_…" Kiba glared at the back of Sasuke's head.

"I know," Naruto grinned at him. "Now you can talk to Hinata… too bad you burn all your food!"

"Shut up!" Kiba turned red. "You do too!"

"Yeah, but I'm not trying to impress anyone with my 'cooking skills'." Naruto made air quotes.

"I do so have cooking skills!"

"When it comes to dog food!"

"Shut up." Kiba pouted. Naruto clapped his shoulder and grinned.

"Don't worry, Kiba. She likes your other qualities, like your B.O. and"

"Naruto, I'm going to kill you!" Kiba roared, and Naruto danced away towards his group's cooking area, where Sakura was trying to talk to ever-so-stoic Sasuke.

"So…" Sakura was twirling her hair around her finger, "I was wondering if… next week after the performance, we could"

"Hey, Sasu-bastard," Naruto interrupted, dropping his things on the table. "Hi Sakura."

"You interrupted me, Naruto!" Sakura glared at him, but soon dissolved into a smile. "You're actually on time today?"

"Yeah, Kiba couldn't wait to get here and talk to Hinata," Naruto snickered. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Don't laugh at him, Naruto!" She scolded.

He smirked at her and turned to Sasuke. "Hey, ice princess. Don't just sit there, say hi or something."

"Shut up, dobe."

"Are you thinking again?"

"Dobe." Sasuke shot him a warning glance, which Naruto learned meant stop-now-or-you'll-endure-severe-pain-or-embarrassment. That didn't mean Naruto always heeded this warning, though.

Today he sighed and turned to Sakura again, asking, "So how did your flute lesson go?"

"Ugh, I wish I could memorize music," Sakura muttered. "I can get that trill down right in the middle of the piece. It's so annoying!" She looked hopefully at Sasuke. "I wanted Sasuke-kun to tutor me, but he said no. Did you know Sasuke-kun plays the piano?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. He'd become friends with the troupe of girls who surrounded his desk every morning to ogle Sasuke, but the problem was that they began to think that he was one of them. That's where Naruto drew the line, because he was not in love with a stuck up ice princess, and he definitely wasn't gay. Even if the guy was prettier than all the other girls in the school…. And…err… everyone thought that, not just Naruto.

While Sakura blathered on about Sasuke's many accomplishments and achievements, which Naruto had already memorized, Naruto sat down next to Sasuke surveyed the room. His group of friends all took this class. There was team seven: himself, Sakura, and Sasuke (although Sasuke wasn't really part of his group of friends as of yet); team eight: Kiba, Hinata, and Shino; team ten: Chouji, Ino, and Shikamaru; and team eleven (nicknamed team YOUTH by Lee): Lee (obviously), Tenten, and Neji.

Shizune was the cooking teacher, and she was also best friends with the principal, Tsunade. Which ultimately meant that if Naruto blew up anything in the kitchen, Tsunade would have his head on a silver platter, complete with garnishing. Tsunade was nice, but she was really old (Naruto considered her to be a historical landmark like the pyramids, except that she…well… moved around.). Shizune was extremely nice, except for the one time that Kiba force fed Lee a bottle of Japanese sake and Lee destroyed all of team eleven's cooking space— oh, excuse the language— team _YOUTH's_ cooking space.

"Right Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Huh?" He grinned at her, and with a huff, Sakura plopped into her seat and glared at him.

"Do you listen to _anything_ I say?"

"When it's not about Sasu-bastard."

"Don't call him that!"

The bell rang and Shizune got up and walked to the center of the room. "Okay, everyone," She said, clapping her hands. "This week we have been working on beverages, right? Today I'd like you to create a beverage of your own, or recreate one of your favorite drinks!" She motioned to a table where there were fresh fruits, tea bags, coffee, and other assorted items. "Here I have some various fruits and vegetables if you'd like them. The refrigerators are stocked also— _Please_ use only your cartons of milk and so forth, not those from the other classes— in case there is anything that you'd like to use. There are juicers in the cabinets above the sinks. Make four servings, one for each of you and one for me. I'll be checking in about fifteen minutes!"

With that, the class got to work. Sakura had hurried to the fridge, claiming she was making a surprise for Sasuke. Naruto looked at Sasuke and frowned.

"I don't know what I should make," he said, and Sasuke shrugged.

"What do you like to drink?"

"Soda," Naruto grinned. "and water, but I think water is cheating."

Sasuke smirked, "Dobe, why don't you make something that someone else would drink, then?"

"Like what, teme?" Naruto glowered at the dark haired boy. Sakura was using the blender now, and Sasuke murmured something low that Naruto couldn't hear. "What?" He raised his voice.

"Coffee," Sasuke repeated. "Make coffee."

"I _hate_ coffee!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I'll make you a soda if you make coffee." Sasuke promised.

Naruto was taken aback. "You will?"

"Do you want a soda?" Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrow.

"…Well, yeah, but you'll make me one? Are you going to poison it?" Naruto scowled. "And how would you make a soda anyway!"

Sasuke shrugged. "Make me a coffee and we'll find out."

"You are such a bastard. But fine, deal." Naruto muttered. Sasuke looked pensive for a moment, then walked over to the table with fruits and vegetables on it. Naruto scowled and looked around.

There was a coffee pot on the other side of the cooking station, but Naruto didn't want to boil coffee for Sasuke. Plus, he absolutely hated coffee with a passion and couldn't work a coffee machine if he tried. Also, he didn't want to be anywhere near the blender, which Sakura had blended up some sludge in. All he could really do was think about the iced coffee craze that Iruka was on. Except that Iruka complained that the ice melted and made the coffee watery and disgusting…but it was the only profitable answer for Naruto.

So he headed over to the table where Kiba was busy picking through the strawberries.

"Hey, Naruto… Did you know Sasuke and Chouji took all the best strawberries and left the nasty ones here?!" Kiba complained. "I was going to make Hinata strawberry kiwi tea!"

Naruto pointed at a strawberry. "Isn't that one okay?"

"No!" Kiba lifted it up by it's stem. There was a huge bite in the back of it. "Chouji bit it!"

Naruto tried to hold in his laughter. "Why don't you make something else?"

"Are you kidding?" Kiba complained. "Hinata loves strawberry kiwi tea!" He moaned and decided, "Maybe I can make really good raspberry tea instead!"

Naruto reached for a carton of iced coffee. "What's Hinata making?"

"She's making a vegetable drink." Kiba muttered.

Naruto howled with laughter. "I told you not to get all those vegetarian dishes!" He laughed, and Kiba frowned at him.

"You are not a good friend, you know that?"

"I'm a _great_ friend, you're just an idiot." Naruto protested, still chuckling. "So are you going to drink it?"

"I have to!"

"What's Shino making?"

Kiba made a face. "A protein drink."

"I bet Shikamaru's making water," Naruto drawled, and Kiba snickered.

"Yeah, and Ino's probably burning coffee, she's so bad at this class."

"So are you! Last week you burned the pancakes!"

"So? You destroyed the omelets we made last Monday!"

"You could burn cereal!"

"You could make milk sour by looking at it!"

"You could both shut up," Neji announced, walking over to the two bickering sophomores.

"Oh, hey Neji. What are you making?" Naruto asked. Neji shrugged.

"A cocktail."

"Are we allowed to make those?" Kiba looked devious.

"The seniors and juniors are," Neji smirked at Kiba. "_You_ have to ask permission from Shizune to use anything alcoholic, remember?"

Kiba scowled and stalked back to his workspace.

"Are you all making alcoholic beverages?" Naruto asked, looking over at Tenten and Lee.

"Tenten wants to make a margarita, but Lee is making a 'youth' drink." Neji rolled his eyes. "Whatever that is."

Naruto laughed. "Tell him to make me a cup too!"

Neji sighed. "It's your funeral…" He said with a sigh, going back to his workspace. Naruto hurried back also, where Sakura had finished her drink and was frowning at it.

"I don't understand. I had one of these at a cute café just a few days ago and it's just not the same." She murmured.

Sasuke was juicing some raspberries and ignoring her, per usual, so Naruto offered to try a glass of Sakura's concoction. "What is it?" He asked.

"It's a milk and yogurt drink," Sakura replied.

"Ew," Naruto moaned. "Yogurt is thick!"

"Well, this isn't! I blended it!" Sakura scowled at him. "Just drink it!"

He drank the contents of his glass, then shrugged. "Tastes like milk and yogurt." He said. She moaned and put her head down.

"It's so bland!" She complained. She started ranting to Naruto, who wasn't paying attention.

Sasuke had finished blending his fruits and took ice cube trays out of the freezer, ignoring the two at the table. Naruto watched him thoughtfully. _Why is he making me a soda anyway?_ He thought. _He's so weird… it's kinda nice though._ Sasuke set the tray down and seemed to be thinking, biting his lower lip. Naruto trailed his eyes to the caught lip, staring entranced until Sasuke let his lip go, licking it to soothe the pain that he'd caused it. The pale boy started to fill the ice cube tray, and Naruto realized he was staring and looked towards Sakura, fighting a raging blush. He hoped no one had noticed that little exchange.

Sakura looked up finally and exclaimed, "Naruto, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Your face is red! Was my drink that bad? Oh my god, I poisoned you didn't I? Oh, why me?"

"Uh, no, Sakura… It's not your fault! I just… uh…" Naruto struggled to find an excuse, his eyes trailing towards where Kiba was busy spitting up some drink. "I was trying not to laugh at Kiba!" He exclaimed. Sakura turned to look at Kiba and burst out laughing.

"Why not? He looks like an idiot!"

Relieved, Naruto turned to Sasuke again, catching the boy staring at him. Naruto was sure that his face turned redder. Sasuke didn't seem to notice or care, and didn't even look away when he was caught. He finally smirked at Naruto and said, "Are you going to make your drink or what?"

Naruto scowled at him and decided that he'd copy Sasuke and make ice cubes. But he was going to make his drink cooler than Sasuke's!

He pushed Sasuke out of his way and grabbed an ice cube tray from in the freezer, which Sasuke had turned the temperature down on. Then Naruto decided that if he didn't want the iced coffee to get watery, he'd make the ice cubes out of the iced coffee too. So he poured the coffee into the ice cube tray and then stuck it in the freezer. He took out four glasses, filled them with coffee, and put them in the fridge to chill. Then he smirked at Sasuke triumphantly. The dark eyed boy wasn't paying attention to him though, and Naruto felt a little let down.

Ino had wandered over and was talking with Sakura about— what else?— Sasuke. The two girls giggled to each other when Sasuke turned away from them to retrieve his ice cubes from the freezer. Naruto had to hold himself back, because he didn't want to scowl at them or anything… not that he knew why he was feeling like scowling at them.

"Dobe." Sasuke said, and Naruto scowled at him.

"God damnit, my name is Naruto!" He started, and Sasuke handed him a cup. The drink was colored slightly golden yellow and had pink and red ice cubes in it. There was a straw in the drink too, but it wasn't a bendy straw, and those were Naruto's favorite. "What is it?" Naruto asked, eyeing the drink warily.

"Soda." Sasuke said, leaning back. "Drink it."

"Is it poisoned?" Naruto asked, suspicious. "Did you pee in it?"

"Dobe," Sasuke said, as a warning.

"I'm serious," Naruto continued. "'coz you're always being all sneaky, Sasu-bastard."

"Just drink it," Sasuke ordered, and Naruto narrowed his eyes at the drink and finally captured the straw in his mouth and drank some of the drink. It didn't have carbonation like soda, but it was really refreshing.

"…It's….good!" Naruto exclaimed, staring at Sasuke in surprise. The boy grunted in response. "What is it?"

"I told you." Sasuke said, shrugging.

Naruto was about to ask him another question when Sakura jumped up. "Oh, did you finish your drink, Sasuke-kun?" She asked sweetly. "I'll take mine, then! Here," She shyly produced her drink to him. "This is for you."

Naruto knew better than to do that. Sasuke was like a gourmet. If he tasted your food and hated it, he'd dump it. He'd done it to Naruto twice already… And he had done it to Sakura at least ten times. Chouji and Sasuke were the best cooks in the class, so Naruto tolerated it— barely.

Sasuke handed her one of his creations silently, and then took the drink she was offering him. Naruto watched Sakura smirk at Ino, who scowled and then stalked off to rejoin Chouji and Shikamaru, who were arguing (because Shikamaru had decided to make water since anything else was too troublesome).

"This is _so_ good, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gushed. "What is it?" He shrugged at her and downed her drink.

"…This isn't good." He said, finally, looking at his cup. She sadly looked at her feet. "It's just milk and yogurt."

Naruto felt bad for Sakura and scowled at him. "Could you stop being an ass and be nice for once?"

Sasuke snorted, "Shut up, dobe." And then to Sakura, "I'll remake it. You just need something more."

"Okay. Thanks, Sasuke-kun, I'll help!" Sakura cheered up immediately.

Sasuke shook his head and went towards the table with fruits on it, Sakura on his trail. Naruto took his ice cubes out of the freezer and took out the four chilled glasses of coffee. He dropped two ice cubes into each glass and sighed. _I didn't make anything special for Sasuke._ He thought dismally. _But he created a great drink out of nowhere for me. I have to do something…_ he frowned at his cups, not even noticing that Sasuke and Sakura had returned.

Sasuke easily sidestepped Naruto and picked up a glass of the coffee before Naruto could object. He stuck a straw in the drink and walked off towards Sakura, who was asking what Sasuke was going to do with his new ingredients.

"Oh, is that Naruto's drink?" Sakura asked, hurrying towards Naruto. She picked up a glass and sipped it. "It's just iced coffee." She murmured. "Do you really like coffee, Naruto?"

"No," He scowled.

Sasuke spoke up. "It's good." Immediately, Sakura gave Naruto a look that read _what kind of pixie dust did you put in this drink?_ Naruto tried to give her a convincing shrug.

"But Sasuke, it's just coffee," Sakura complained.

He looked at her. "But it can't get watery," He pointed out. "The ice cubes are made of coffee too."

Sakura looked mystified, but still she congratulated Naruto as if he had just solved the problem of world hunger.

Naruto, for his part, stared at Sasuke. _Since when was anything I did __**good**_ He wondered, watching Sasuke blend Sakura a new drink. Sasuke poured out four cups and handed one to Naruto. Dazed, Naruto didn't even scowl at Sasuke, just took the glass and downed it.

"Wow, Sasuke-kun, it tastes so much better! You were right about the honey and the lemon juice!" Sakura admired, and Naruto silently agreed. Sasuke just drank his and then went back to sipping the iced coffee. Sakura skipped off to tell Ino how Sasuke had helped her, leaving the two boys staring at each other.

"…" Naruto felt his face flush and he turned away from Sasuke. _This is weird. This is really weird!_

"You can have my soda." Sasuke said suddenly. "I don't like juice."

"…" Naruto noticed that he had finished the soda Sasuke had given him. "How'd you make it?" He asked, again.

"It's just fruit juice cubes in cider." Sasuke responded lazily. "By cider, I mean hard cider, not apple cider the drink. That's why it tastes like a soda, it's kind of sugary."

Naruto sighed, hoping his face was back to normal. "Well…" He said finally, turning to face Sasuke, "you can have my coffee. I hate coffee."

"I know." Sasuke smirked.

"It's just regular coffee. Why is it so good?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shrugged.

"Because you thought about it, dobe. It was creative."

"Whoa, don't get all Shizune on me," Naruto muttered, picking up Sasuke's soda. Sasuke only smirked (Naruto wondered if Sasuke was capable of actually _smiling_) and finished his coffee.

When class ended, Sasuke and Chouji were (once again) praised for their "creative and tasty" beverages. Chouji had made frothy strawberry drink that he swore only took ten minutes. Naruto snickered when he saw Shizune pick up Shikamaru's water and gave him a confused look. Ino had created cranberry lemonade, which she claimed had secret love powers that bound two soulmates together (when she had proclaimed to the class that it was called Ino's Love Potion, Naruto almost spit up his soda). Lee had made a drink he called "YOSH THE POWER OF YOUTH". Naruto didn't even want to know what it was… since it was glowing green. Luckily, Neji had failed to tell Lee that Naruto wanted a glass. Tenten and Neji had taken a sip each from Lee's drink, and they were both passed out of the table, their beverages still not quite made. Shizune didn't try that one, but she did call the nurse (Tsunade, unfortunately; Naruto had learned this when he thought he could skip a geometry exam by going to the nurse's office). Shino had made an energy drink, and Kiba had managed to somehow singe himself making iced tea. Hinata had made a carrot and tomato vegetable drink. Shizune spent the rest of class explaining about how certain beverages came to be, and gave them homework.

The bell rang and the class was dismissed. Kiba was going to walk Hinata to her next class (Naruto could only tell because Kiba grinned toothily at him and practically danced after Hinata when she left), so Naruto decided he'd walk with Sasuke to gym.

"Are you following me again, dobe?"

"I'll have you know that I never 'follow' you, you just always go where I'm headed!"

"So you're following me," Sasuke said blithely, ignoring Naruto's splutters about how braindead Sasuke was. "Chill, dobe," Sasuke said finally. "I don't care if you follow me."

That shut Naruto up for the rest of the walk to gym.


	13. In Which A New Week Begins

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** If you got a PM from me and it's about the chapters, please disregard it XD I check PMs before I check reviews, and then I usually respond from there, so... yeah, that's that! By the way... I'm not the world's best cook, but you can pretty much remake all the drinks in the cookie... and they're really good, I promise! Especially Sasuke's soda, OMG that stuff is sooo good. Okay.. I'm done, hehe. If you'd like me to send you the recipes, you can PM me and try them yourself.

I'm happy everyone likes my story so far, yay! I have my writer's moments where I worry that it progresses too slowly, (mostly because I'm itching to just put a lemon in XD) but... I prefer slow to fast. I don't mind when people put Sasuke and Naruto together really quickly, but at the same time, I like when people really get into the relationship that Sasuke and Naruto have. Well, now that I'm done sounding like an English teacher... Thank you all very much for the reviews!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **A** **N**ew **W**eek **B**egins **A**nd **P**ranks **A**re **D**one

Naruto hated Mondays. Everything went wrong on Mondays. So far he was doing alright, but he knew that Sasuke and Monday together was enough to make him decide to jog off a volcano.

Homeroom, like always, was pretty noisy. Naruto no longer had to shove to get to his seat though, that was pretty cool. He plopped down in his seat and gave Sakura a dazzling grin. "So, what's the scoop on Sasu-bastard?" he asked dryly. "Anything new happen this weekend? Or should I ask him himself?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "Hi, Naruto." She said, before going back to gushing over Sasuke's hair (of all things, Naruto wondered, why his hair? It looked like a bird's butt).

Naruto looked over at Ino. "Aren't you going to blatantly ignore me too?" He asked. Ino grinned at him.

"Sure." She agreed, and then she too returned to ogling Sasuke's hair.

Sighing, the cerulean-eyed teen turned to the object of the girls' affection. "Seriously, man… shave your head bald and get acne, will you?"

"Quiet, dobe." Sasuke muttered, glancing at Naruto, who grinned brightly at him.

"G'morning to you too!" He said cheerily. "What'd you do this weekend? Oh, I know. You stayed at home and thought, didn't you?" Sasuke glared at him. "Must have been a real fun weekend. Did anyone bother you while you were thinking? No? Gosh, it must have been great."

"Dobe." Sasuke warned.

Naruto didn't heed warnings. "So what were you thinking about this weekend? Oh, I know, all the possible ways you could murder me and look innocent, right?"

The bell rang and the girls dispersed. Sasuke calmly faced Kamizuki, who was taking roll call. Naruto grinned, happy that Sasuke hadn't had a chance to embarrass him yet. This Monday was turning out alright!

"Okay, two minutes until first period," Kamizuki told the class, which once again became loud. Naruto heard his name called and grinned across the room at Haneul, a boy who played the French horn in orchestra with Naruto. "Sasu-bastard, I saw Haneul this weekend," Naruto told Sasuke. "He's got a little brother named Chun-Lang. He's really funny."

"So what, dobe?" Sasuke asked, leafing through a book. Naruto looked at the cover interestedly. Math Analysis. Scowling, Naruto wondered why Sasuke had to be so smart all the time.

"So who did you see this weekend?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto exasperatedly. "I didn't see anyone this weekend." He said, and Naruto grinned.

"So I was right! You sat at home and stared at your wall!"

"Whatever." Sasuke said, brushing him off. The bell rang and Naruto jumped out of his seat, eager to catch up with Kiba. Just as he was about to leave, he felt Sasuke grab his shoulder.

"What now, teme?" Naruto asked, looking over his shoulder at Sasuke, who seemed to be holding on to Naruto for balance (Naruto therefore assumed he had fallen over, and inwardly cheered "he's not perfect!"). The dark haired boy straightened himself out and stood.

"Nothing," was the terse response, so Naruto shrugged and headed out of class. As he hurried though the halls, he noticed a lot of people were laughing, so when Naruto caught up to Kiba, he asked what was so hilarious.

"I dunno." Kiba shrugged. "I thought it was something in your homeroom."

"No," Naruto shrugged again. "Nothing happened in my homeroom. Sasuke tripped, though."

Kiba snorted. "Did you trip him?"

"Nope!"

"Damn, someone _has_ to trip him. I want to trip him myself, but I think he hates me." Kiba grinned. "Hey, you should come over one weekend and meet my dog! He's so smart."

"Akamaru, right?" Naruto asked, and Kiba nodded. "Are you, like, going to train dogs when you get older or something? Shouldn't you go to a school for that?"

"No," Kiba said, "I only want Akamaru. And plus, I can decide all of that in college."

"Whatever you say," Naruto grinned. "Is Akamaru's breath better than yours?"

"Fucker!" Kiba punched Naruto in the back of his head.

"Ow!" Naruto whined. "That's another six thousand brain cells!"

"N-Naruto…sempai…" Naruto turned and smiled at Hinata (Kiba jealously glared at Naruto).

"Hi, Hinata!" He said, cheerily.

"…N-Naruto-sempai? There's…there's a sticker on your shoulder." Hinata said, helpfully. Puzzled, Naruto pulled the sticker off and read it aloud.

"...Daddy's Little Princess."

Kiba burst out laughing and Hinata giggled a little bit, but Naruto was seeing red. He tore off to the orchestra room, screaming obscenities about his dearly beloved Sasu-bastard.

* * *

"I don't get anything in Jiraya's class," moaned Kiba. "Do you, Naruto?" 

"I'm too busy not paying attention." Naruto replied, stuffing his face with fries. Sasuke moved his chair slightly away from Naruto, obviously ready for what was coming next. "But I think we're supposed to be reading Frankenstein," Naruto continued, little pieces of food flying everywhere. Kiba groaned.

"Ew, Naruto… man, what is your problem! Swallow!"

Naruto swallowed and grinned. "Heh. Sorry!"

"Whatever, that's gross. Even Akamaru doesn't spit food like that!" Kiba snorted.

Naruto shrugged. "Okay, whatever. Go home and make sweet, sweet love to your perfectly hygienic dog, then."

"Aw, Naruto! I'm eating, man!"

Chuckling, Naruto moved closer to Sasuke. "By the way, teme… I'm still mad about that sticker. And I know it was you!"

Sasuke drank some his milkshake. "What are you talking about, dobe?" He asked innocently, reaching into his bag for a book. Naruto scowled and glared at him.

Kiba grinned. "Sasuke's pretty good at pranking you, Naruto."

Naruto grumbled, "I'll get him back."

"No," Kiba said happily, "You're too stupid to get him back."

"Do you like having teeth, Kiba? Because I could help you get a nice set of gums."

"Really." Kiba smirked.

"Really." Naruto grinned. "Don't you know? At Seishun High, I was the king of pranks!"

"Yeah?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of tricks did you pull?"

Naruto grinned evilly. "I put itching powder into the cheerleader's pom poms last year," He started. "And I put chocolate pudding in the coin slot of the vending machines, so everyone had to reach into that junk to get their coins. I used to bring in my own universal TV remote to change the channels on the TVs when we were watching movies in class…" He ticked some more pranks off his fingers. "So I can definitely get Sasu-bastard back!"

Sasuke shrugged, then frowned. "Clean that up." He pointed at Naruto's shirt.

"What?" Naruto looked down, and Sasuke flicked his nose.

"I win." Sasuke taunted, finishing his milkshake. Kiba snickered.

"You might be a good prankster, but you're way stupid, Naruto!" Kiba told the fuming blond.

"How could you get me with the oldest trick in the book! Oh, I'm going to get you for this…" Naruto glowered at Sasuke, and then at Kiba, and then at Sasuke again. Sasuke just started reading, so Naruto turned to Kiba. "You must have gotten some really good pranks here last year, right?"

Kiba shrugged. "Nah. Everything here is pretty weird, so… I didn't do very many pranks. In middle school I got one of Hana's dogs to chase a herd of animals through the halls, though."

Naruto grinned. "Have you ever switched the jacks in the library on the keyboards? I used to take out my keyboard and plug it into my friend's computer when he wasn't looking, and then I'd write to him when he turned back to his screen!"

Kiba blinked. "Hey, that's a really good idea! It's study hall right now, let's go prank someone in the library!"

Naruto grinned. "Okay. Coming, Sasu-bastard?"

"No." Sasuke said.

"C'mon, you know you want to. And even if you don't want to…" Naruto snatched the book out of Sasuke's hands, "You're coming anyway. 'Cause I said so."

Sasuke glared daggers at Naruto and got up. "Give me back my book, dobe." He warned. Naruto made a face, dancing away from Sasuke when the boy reached out to take the book back.

"Say you'll come with us!" Naruto taunted.

Sasuke looked thoughtful for a couple seconds. Then he smirked and agreed. "Fine." He said. "I'll come with you."

Naruto, wary of Sasuke's smirk, said, "I'll give it to you when we get there." Sasuke shrugged and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Dude. He's going to do something awful to you." Kiba murmured.

"I know. And Kiba, if I die, I just want you to know… you're my best friend here."

"Can I have your computer?"

"No way, dog breath." Naruto sidled out of the way of Kiba's fists and hurried out to the library.

Unfortunately, Hinata and her friends were just heading to lunch, and Kiba felt obligated to go with Hinata, so Naruto went to the library with Sasuke. Alone.

It was kind of scary, actually. Sasuke hadn't done anything mean yet, but at the same time, Naruto knew something devious was being plotted in the recesses of Sasuke's evil genius mind.

The library was really nice, even though Naruto didn't visit often. There were a row of computers, all occupied, in the front, some distance away from the librarian's desk. The shelves were pretty tall, and stocked with all sorts of books. There were various kids reading at the study tables as well.

Sasuke knew his way around, and moved to a secluded area in the back. Of course Naruto followed, seeing as he had no idea where the heck he was. They ended up sitting by a window.

"Do you come here often?" Naruto asked. Sasuke pulled a face, and Naruto scowled. "I'm not trying to pick you up, you perv."

"Whatever you say, dobe."

"Shut up, teme." Naruto looked at the book he had taken from Sasuke. "The Hot Zone?" Sasuke took the book from him and went back to reading it, but Naruto was not going to be ignored. "You know this library, right? Take me for a tour!"

"No."

"Come on, Sasu-bastard! I haven't been in here before!"

"…"

"If you don't take me on a tour, I'll… I'll make farting noises!"

"…" Sasuke looked up, irked. "Fine." He muttered. "Just don't make farting noises _again_. I can never tell when it's the real thing."

Naruto smirked and got up, a plan hatching in his head. When he had entered the library, he had seen the big book detector things that were stationed at most library doors. He decided to sneak a book into Sasuke's bag, one that Sasuke would never be caught reading.

Sasuke brought Naruto through the fiction books, most of which, Sasuke told him, were donations from people in the school. Naruto slipped some books into Sasuke's bag (including, but not limited to A Girls' Guide to Guys and Gossip Girl). Sasuke was busy taking books off the shelves, so he didn't notice.

"These are non-fiction." Sasuke said. He paused and started looking at some of the books on the shelves, so Naruto hemmed and hawed and pretended to be interested in the biography of some guy with a really bad haircut. "Let's go," Sasuke said finally, and Naruto nodded.

"What are those?" Naruto asked, pointing past the non-fiction books.

Sasuke followed his finger. "Those are magazines."

"Let's go see!" Naruto begged. "Do they have Electronic Gaming here?"

Sasuke sighed and allowed Naruto to pull him to the magazine section, where Naruto managed to slip two issues of Seventeen and one Cosmo Girl into Sasuke's bag. He wondered if Sasuke even noticed the difference in weight, but the dark haired boy seemed interested in an article in Wired. Naruto leaned over his shoulder to see what Sasuke was engrossed in.

"If you want to see it, just say so." Sasuke muttered, handing him the magazine. "Don't breathe down my neck, dobe."

"Oh, sor-ry, teme." Naruto muttered, scanning the article. It was a really short article about YouTube hosting science videos. "You read some weird stuff," He commented to Sasuke, who shrugged.

"Are you done? Let's go." Sasuke murmured, and Naruto heartily agreed. They passed the librarian at the front desk and started through the doors, Sasuke first. The siren went off, just like Naruto planned.

"Wait a second!" The librarian called out. Sasuke looked somewhat surprised, opening his bag up and pulling the offending materials out. Naruto roared with laughter as Sasuke tried to explain to the librarian that he had no idea how the books and magazines had even gotten into his bag. After reading aloud the title of each and every book that Sasuke had "stolen", the librarian gave him a quick lecture about stealing and went back to her desk. The other people in the library were laughing behind their hands, while Sasuke just looked scandalized.

"I didn't know you stole books, Sasu-bastard!" Naruto giggled.

Sasuke glared at him. "You did this." He snarled. Naruto smiled brightly, even though Sasuke was advancing him with a look that could probably turn anyone else into a fine red mist.

"Huh?" Naruto tried to act completely innocent, though he was still laughing. "Me? How could you say _I_ did it?" Sasuke only glared at Naruto mercilessly. Naruto went to open the door to the library, saying, "I didn't touch not one of those books in your"

The siren went off again. Naruto looked around, then realized that it was because of him. Confused, he reached into his messenger bag.

The first things he pulled out were magazines. He had three issues of American Cheerleader and one issue of The O. Upon further inspection of his bag's contents, he found How to Win Friends and Influence People for Teen Girls, In The Game: Gay Athletes and the cult of Masculinity, How Gay and Lesbian Teens Are Leading a New Way Out of the Closet, and Gay Male Pornography: An Issue of Sex Discrimination.

"Oh my god." Naruto stared at the book. "You bas"

"Excuse me," The librarian cut in, scrutinizing Naruto from behind her glasses, "But I just told your friend here about stealing from the library, and now I have to tell you the same thing. Now if you boys are ashamed to take out these types of books, then I must ask that you sit down and read them here." Then she read all the titles aloud, much to Naruto's chagrin, while everyone else in the library, including Sasuke, laughed their asses off. Then she went off on a tangent on finding yourself and other nonsense.

Naruto sighed and listened to the speech, all the while sending glares Sasuke's way. When finally they were allowed to escape, Naruto pushed Sasuke up against a wall and snarled, "You tricked me!" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked confused, so Naruto grabbed his tie and pulled Sasuke so that they were literally nose to nose. "You put all those books in my bag!"

For a second, Sasuke didn't move, and Naruto swore there was a faint pink color on his cheeks, but he blinked and the coloring was gone. Sasuke blew a stream of air into Naruto's face, and Naruto immediately backed off, complaining that Sasuke's breath stunk (It actually didn't smell like much of anything, Naruto decided later, but it wasn't like he'd tell Sasu-bastard that…). "I have no idea what you're talking about," Sasuke smirked, and Naruto growled.

"Ooh, you! I'll get you for this, Sasu-bastard!"


	14. In Which School Commences

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N: **I realized that I promised to update with two chapters everyday... and totally forgot to put up two chapters this morning. sorry. : 3 Do remember that if you haven't already read the previous chapter, it's brand new. Peace!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **S**chool **C**ommences **A**nd **G**aara **P**icks **N**aruto **U**p

The next week on Wednesday, Sakura dragged Naruto out of homeroom (Naruto tried to kick and scream, but she punched him in the head, so he whined and rubbed his head instead).

"Listen, Naruto," She said, quite seriously, when they were outside.

"Yeah?" Naruto rubbed his head once more, and Sakura sighed.

"Did it hurt?"

"Of course it hurt! You punch like a man— err… girl! You punch like a girl! Which is great, 'cause you are a girl! Right? Right." Naruto babbled. When Sakura only shook her head at him as if to say _my friend is suffering from severe head trauma_, Naruto pointed out that there were thirty students in the hallway.

"Anyway," Sakura shrugged off Naruto's random commentary, "I was wondering… if you had any ideas for our fundraisers? No one really wants to do anything but the same old car washes and bake sales… and I thought… well, you know. You went to a public high school, and… well, if you have any good ideas…" She played with her hair nervously. "Maybe some that you might have done last year…?"

Naruto thought back to his fundrasiers. Come to think of it, the only reason they had them was because… the school didn't have enough money on it's own. But Naruto was paying a tuition to come to this school… so…"Where does our tuition money go?" Naruto wondered, and Sakura shrugged. "I bet Ero-Sennin uses it to publish his books."

Sakura giggled. "Probably!" She agreed. "Or maybe Guy-sensei uses it for his green spandex suit collection."

Naruto burst out laughing. "He probably wears the same one everyday! Maybe it's used to buy baa-san her never ending supply of sake!"

"Or replacement senbon for Shiranori-sensei!"

"Or more porn for Kakashi-sensei!"

The two students were roaring in laughter by the time the bell rang for homeroom to start. Between giggles, Sakura promised she'd talk to Naruto tomorrow about the fundraisers. "Or if you want," she added, "You could come to the Student Government office next Tuesday."

"I have People Watching Club then," Naruto told her, as they hurried back into homeroom.

"Oh, it's alright. You can come 'people watch' in the office." Sakura patted his shoulder. "Will you?"

Naruto agreed, and then went to his seat, made some faces at Sasuke, who ignored him, and practiced flipping pencils across the room.

* * *

Naruto found himself in Kakashi's office during lunch again. Sasuke opened the refrigerator behind Kakashi's desk and pulled out a cherry Coke. He raised his eyebrow towards Naruto, who rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to ask me if I want one?" Naruto asked, leaning back into his chair.

Sasuke smirked. "Do you want one?"

"Yeah, thanks." Naruto murmured. Ever since the library incident, Sasuke hadn't been pulling any pranks. Naruto, since then, had been trying to get on Sasuke's good side, so that there wouldn't be anymore pranks (hopefully). Sasuke tossed him a drink.

"Don't open that right away," The onyx eyed boy mentioned, and Naruto blinked.

"…Why are you being nice?!" Naruto demanded, getting up. "You're planning something, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, moving around Kakashi's desk and waltzing over to his seat. "I'm not trying to trick you. Honest."

Naruto waved his arms around. "Then why are you being nice?"

Sasuke shrugged. "You're insisting on hanging out around me," He replied, "And as much as I hate to tolerate stupid people, you just don't seem to want to leave me alone."

"You're _damn right_ I don't want to leave you alone! I'll be there when you wake up! I'll be there when you get married! I'll be there when your first child comes out of the closet!"

"Okay." Sasuke shrugged again, drinking his Coke. "Now shut up." He pretended to be angry, but Naruto could see the beginnings of a smirk tugging at the ice-princess-boy's lips, and he was immediately mollified.

_So this means we're friends, right? I knew I could get him to like me! _Naruto, satisfied, sat down and opened his soda, which sprayed all over his face. Naruto sat in shock while Sasuke snickered, until Naruto's voice decided to return. "YOU _BASTARD_!"

* * *

"Remember," Kakashi told the stringed instruments at the afterschool practice, "You're playing the same melody as the harpsichord.(1)" Confused murmurs came from the strings section, and a few brave students spoke up.

"What's a harpsichord?" Asked one of the viola players.

"Yeah, who plays it?" Asked a cello.

"Oh, we don't have one," Kakashi eye-smiled. "But just know you're playing the same melody as the harpsichord."

"What the… Kakashi-sensei, that was _no help _at all!"

"Man, Kakashi-sensei, why do you always _do_ this to people?!"

"I quit!"

"You can't quit," Kakashi smiled again, "You're bound to advanced orchestra until you graduate."

"_Crap_."

Naruto recited the notes to himself quietly. "…rest, C, D, E, F, G, A, G, F, E, D, E, rest, rest, rest for a whole measure…"

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke muttered. Naruto glared at him.

"Are you jealous?" Naruto taunted. "'Cause I memorized our part?"

"No."

"Yes you are! I can see it in your eyes!"

"No."

Naruto grinned. "Tell the truth, Sasu-bastard. You long for my super powers!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and smirked at Naruto. "Sleep with one eye open."

"You don't even know where I live!"

"I can find out."

"Fuck." Naruto crossed his arms and slouched in his chair. "I bet you could, too." Sasuke said nothing, just pasted his self-satisfied smirk on. Finally, our lovable blond said, "I'll do you one better. Why don't you come over next week? Then you can find out where I sleep."

Sasuke looked at him, puzzled. "Me come to your house?" He asked, his eyebrow raised in surprise. "Is this a trick?"

"No." Naruto shrugged and grinned. "Do you think I'd trick you, Sasu-bastard?"

"…Yes."

Naruto was about to respond, but Tenten and Chouji bounded down the stairs and planted themselves in front of Naruto and Sasuke.

"After practice—Well… now— everyone's going out for pizza." Chouji said, grinning. Naruto kicked Sasuke when the pale boy rolled his eyes.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Tenten asked.

"Do I have to pay?" Naruto asked.

Tenten grinned. "You have to chip in so we can buy a large pizza."

"Fine…" Naruto decided, "But it has to be pepperoni."

"We're going to have an everything pizza," Chouij exclaimed.

Naruto grinned. "Gross." He said. Chouji made a face at him and pulled out some random cheetos. Before Naruto could ask where the cheesy puffs had come from, Tenten pulled Chouji off.

"We'll talk to you guys in a little bit, okay? Meet us out front!" She called back. Naruto nodded and turned to Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasu-bastard, do you have five dollars I can borrow?"

"No." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And I think you owe me money anyway."

"But Sasu-bastard…" Naruto whined.

"Shut up, dobe."

"C'mon, can't you at least pay for my share of the pizza then?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because," Sasuke put his violin away, "I'm not going."

Naruto quickly shoved his violin into it's case and fit the bow inside the case as well, standing up to block Sasuke from moving. "What? Why not?"

"I don't feel like it."

"You never feel like doing anything." Naruto accused. "You're going to go, and you're going to enjoy it, damn it."

"No." Sasuke said coolly, sidling around Naruto and hurrying to the door, Naruto on his heels.

"Sasu-bastard, you're going to come 'cause I said so! And you know you want to, so you might as well suck it up and come!"

"No means no," Sasuke responded.

"No means hell yes you're coming, teme!"

"No."

"Was that your first word or something? God damn, just say _yes_!"

"_No_."

By this time, the duo had made it to the front door of the school, and Naruto could see his friends outside waiting for him and Sasuke. "If you come I won't bother you at lunch tomorrow," He pleaded.

"I can handle that." Sasuke muttered, fiddling with his jacket idly.

"Okay, I'll sit somewhere else in orchestra."

"I don't care where you sit." Sasuke replied.

"Fine! If you don't come, I'll eat two burritos for breakfast tomorrow!"

"I'll bring a gas mask."

"I hate you," Naruto scowled.

"Good."

Sasuke and Naruto joined the group outside the doors for a couple of minutes (well, Sasuke just nodded at Neji and Shikamaru and then ambled off) and then Naruto noticed a familiar shock of red hair.

"Gaara!" He yelped, running over and jumping Gaara, who pushed Naruto off. "You came! I'm so glad! How'd you get here? Did you take the bus? How long have you been waiting? Why didn't you come inside? Do you want to get pizza? Oh, I have to introduce you to everyone!" Gaara gave him a glazed over look, then started walking towards the school gates. Naruto chased after him, yelling a good-bye to his friends. "Gaara!" Naruto grabbed his friend's sleeve. Gaara sighed.

"Temari brought me." Gaara said, and Naruto blinked. "She said she wanted to see where you went to school."

"Really? Cool! Is that why you're not going out for pizza?" Gaara shrugged. "Are you guys gonna give me a ride home?" Gaara didn't respond, so Naruto assumed it was a yes. He spotted Sasuke not too far away and exclaimed, "Wait here, Gaara!" and proceeded to drag Sasuke to Gaara. "Gaara," Naruto grinned, "This is Sasu-bastard."

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Sasuke." He corrected.

"Yeah." Naruto grinned at Sasuke. "Sasu-bastard, this is Gaara."

The two boys nodded at each other, and Gaara's gaze turned from Sasuke to the gate again. Naruto let go of Sasuke and followed Gaara off, waving back to Sasuke and promising that he'd eat those two burritos for breakfast tomorrow.

* * *

"…so that about sums it up." Naruto explained to Temari. He was in the passenger seat of her Cadillac, and Gaara sat in the back, listening to music.

"Huh." She said, making a sharp right. "…sorry, Naruto. I wasn't listening to the end part, but… What was your orchestra teacher's name again?"

"Huh? Kakashi?"

"No, no, his first name." Temari looked over at Naruto briefly. "Was it Hatake?"

"Yep. Hatake Kakashi." Naruto frowned when Temari looked back at the road. "Why? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Temari said. Naruto pouted and counted nine hundred thirty seconds (fifteen and a half minutes) before Temari spoke again, "Okay… I've heard that name before." She admitted.

"Yeah? Where?"

"Well… See, Gaara goes to this psychologist… Suzuka Kiyohiko." Naruto blinked, surprised. _Suzuka's Gaara's psychologist?_ He thought, tuning back into Temari's voice, "…and she got a phone call while Gaara was getting ready to leave… she was talking to someone called Hatake Kakashi…" Temari paused. "She said that Hatake should tell someone something before things got out of control. She was really angry too, and I've never seen Kiyohiko-san angry before. I thought there was something weird about that. I wouldn't have realized…" Temari drifted off.

"What?"

"I wouldn't have realized that it was the guy from your school if you hadn't said something," Temari smiled. "But hey, you can blackmail him now or… when you figure out what he's got to say."

"Yeah… maybe she was telling him to tell baa-san that he's a pervert." Naruto grinned at Temari. "You know, Kakashi reads porn in the middle of class."

Temari chuckled. "You mean like how you and Kankuro used to?"

Naruto turned red. "It wasn't porn," He insisted. "It was educational reading!"

"With naked women on cars?"

Naruto decided he'd rather point out how many oak trees they had passed (twenty eight visible ones) and bother Gaara than answer that question.

* * *

(1)- I doubt very many people know about harpsichords... well, they aren't harps, XD Well, not technically, anyway. Harpsichords are actually a lot like pianos, except that pianos use hammers to make notes, and the harpsichord plucks strings. You can check it out on Wikipedia. and, by the way, I know wikipedia isn't the most relaiable source of information, but I send you there anyway because I've read through the pages I ask you to go to, and they match up with what I know. If you don't want to wikipeida, then you can always just google search, that'll give you good results! 


	15. In Which We Learn Through Suffering

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** _LyricsBorne:_ Hello, readers of Ira Vehementi's fiction! I'm Ira's friend LyricsBorne... she calls me happy-go-lucky asswipe girl, but wtfever. I don't have an account on wish I did, but I don't write, I just draw. Currently, Ira-chan is angry and doesn't feel like updating, but I, evil friend that I am, got her to log onto her user name so I could update, MWAHAHAHA!! She says thank you to the people who corrected her mistake with Kakashi's name...XDDD I can't believe she made that mistake, she told me Hatake was his last name a while ago... XDD Ira-chan is strange like that, tho.

Anyway, Ira-chan actually has _twenty_ chapters for this on her computer! She's really lazy and won't update faster, so I'm going to put up three chapters just to spite her! TAKE THAT! Plus they're all long chapters, since she usually averages like 2000 words... isn't that weird? She's like the female Shikamaru in real life, only not as smart. XD when she sees this she's going to kill me.

Oh, and... thank you reviewers, she loves you forever. Enjoy the chapter!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **W**e **L**earn **T**hrough **S**uffering

The weekend came pretty fast, even with all the work that Naruto was doing (Naruto's theory was that the week moved slower with the more work he got). It occurred to him, that first Saturday of February, that he was actually happy, the kind of happiness that he used to only feel when he and Gaara pulled of a perfect prank. It was sort of scary! Naruto couldn't remember being happy prior to going to Konoha, but… his friends were great, they really were. He felt welcome with them. It was different from Seishun High… way different. But in a good way. Naruto spent his morning mulling over his new realization. Then Kiba called and wanted to beat Naruto in DDR, so they decided to meet.

Kiba met Naruto downtown, and they spent the whole afternoon at the arcade.

"I'm kinda hungry," Kiba decided, after his fifteenth win (although not consecutively). "How many games did I lose?"

Naruto thought for a second. "We played twenty games, and you won fifteen." He pouted. "Because you cheated."

"You know I didn't cheat. You just suck. I told you to play on beginner."

Naruto pouted. "That's not fair either! You have this game at home!"

"You said you played it all the time!"

"Yeah, when Kankuro plays… and he has no rhythm, so it's fair!"

"You've got some twisted notion of fair and unfair, dude."

"Shut the hell up. How about ramen?" Kiba shrugged.

"You're paying."

"No way!" Naruto complained. "That's not fair! Why do I have to pay?"

"Because you lost!" Kiba grinned. Naruto glowered at him, and the two boys left the arcade and started out into the street. For the first time since Naruto had started going to Konoha, he noticed the way people glared at him. Kiba seemed to notice it too, but he just shifted his stance and walked a little more cautiously. Naruto was more than relieved when they reached Ichiraku's. "What the hell was that about?" Kiba asked Naruto, who shrugged.

"I don't know. There's a lot of stuff I can't figure out about this place…" Naruto thought about it. First, there was the fact that everyone hated both Gaara and Naruto, and the fact that Gaara was a sociopath and everyone but Naruto seemed to know. There were Iruka's secret business meetings… and that present that he'd gotten, now that Naruto thought about it, was also a huge mystery. "Do you ever think that everyone hates you, Kiba?"

"Psh, while I was walking down the street…" Kiba waved his hand. The two boys took a seat and ordered. "When I was a kid I used to think my mom hated me." Kiba frowned, playing with some chopsticks. "But I'm old enough to know that she doesn't hate me. But back when I was a kid…" Kiba sighed and shrugged. "I used to think that she was glaring at me when I went into the kitchen for a drink. I used to think she hated dropping me off to oboe lessons too. Turns out it was because I was just too much like my dad."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah, my dad died when I was about…five or six. It was pretty sad, I guess." Kiba twirled one of the chopsticks on the counter. "I don't remember very much about him. I mean, I know enough to know that I miss him, but I had no idea what my dad was when I was a little kid. When he died, I was the only guy left in the house, and I reminded my mom of my dad." Now the wolfish looking boy hesitated, finally adding, "My sister Hana said that my dad played the oboe too. But I hadn't known that."

Naruto frowned at his hands. "Sorry."

Kiba laughed. "What are you apologizing for? You didn't kill him, right? You don't have to feel bad." Naruto looked at his friend, surprised. "You get it right? Everyone has to experience some sort of pain, that's what Hana says. She says that people learn through suffering. So if you apologize for my suffering, it's sort of like I haven't learned at all, or something. Hana's weird, isn't she? You haven't met her yet, but you definitely don't want to."

Two bowls of ramen were placed in front of the boys, and Kiba dug in hungrily, but Naruto reflected for a moment. _Have I suffered? Have I learned anything…really?_ He stared, dazed, into his ramen until Kiba elbowed him and claimed he could beat Naruto in a ramen eating contest.

"Oh, you're on!" Naruto wore a feral grin. Kiba snorted and started shoveling down ramen like there was no tomorrow.

* * *

"Have you ever noticed how many bear and rabbit jokes there are?" Shikamaru asked. He was lying out on the grass in front of the school, where the People Watching Club was waiting for Jiraya to show up and "moderate" them. Naruto looked over at the usually-sleeping junior and then towards Chouji, who was stuffing his face.

"What're you talking about?" Chouji asked. Shikamaru shrugged.

"Just thinking while Jiraya takes a year and a day to show up."

Naruto grinned. "Tell me a bear and rabbit joke!" He begged, and Shikamaru sighed loudly.

"Okay." He said. Naruto was somewhat surprised (he thought Shikamaru might say it was too troublesome to tell jokes). "There once was a bear and a rabbit that hated each other. One day they ran across a genie lamp, and the genie said he'd grant each of them three wishes. The bear went first. He said, 'I wish I was the only male bear in this forest.' And he got his wish." Shikamaru hesitated, as if he'd lost his place. Soon he continued, "Then the rabbit went, and he said, 'I wish I had a motorcycle helmet.' And he got his wish. The bear made his next wish: 'I wish all the bears in the United States were female, and I was the only male.' And his wish was granted. The rabbit said, 'I wish I had a fast motorcycle to go with my helmet.' So his wish was granted. The bear said, 'I wish all the other bears in the world were female, and I was the only male.' And his wish was granted. The rabbit put on his helmet and got on his motorcycle and said, 'I wish that bear was gay.'"

Naruto laughed. "That's good!" He chuckled.

Shikamaru shrugged. "It's just weird how many jokes are like that." He said, staring into the clouds.

"Yeah…" Chouji agreed, and Naruto pouted.

"I've never heard any bear and rabbit jokes… other than that one." He pointed out.

"There are loads of 'em." Chouji promised. "Maybe you should look them up online?"

"That'd be troublesome." Shikamaru murmured. Naruto and Chouji rolled their eyes at each other.

"There you are!" Jiraya's voice carried over to the group of students on the grass.

"What is that supposed to mean, Ero-Sennin?!" Naruto jumped to his feet. "You're late!"

"I was doing research," Jiraya shrugged.

A girl piped up, "For your book, Jiraya-sensei? That's degrading to women!"

"Yeah!" Another girl said eagerly. "We could tell the cops!"

"That would only work if he doesn't already have all the cops reading his book," Shikamaru put in lazily, and Jiraya grinned.

"Exactly!" He said cheerfully. "Is everyone here? Where's dog face, blondie?"

"Don't call me that, Ero-Sennin! And dog breath went home. He had an oboe lesson today."

"Whatever." Jiraya picked his teeth. "Okay, go out with your journals and observe people in their natural habitat!"

"Can I stay here?" Shikamaru asked.

"Whatever, just look busy so that this club doesn't get shut down." Jiraya grinned, and most of the students (Naruto included, Shikamaru excluded) took off in various directions.

If Kiba had shown up, Naruto would've spent his time exploring the school grounds to see if Hinata was staying after today (which she most likely was, since she got a ride home with Neji, who stayed after for Student Government). But Naruto was on his own today, so he decided to wander the grounds with a new purpose. Of what, he was not yet sure.

As he wandered the school, he tried to figure out who was here after school. Sakura and Sasuke had student government today, so they were after. Neji was after for Student Government, and Hinata was after for Neji. Shikamaru and Chouji were after because of the People Watching club… Lee stayed after everyday to train with Guy-sensei (Naruto learned to stay far away from the soccer field when the two of them were occupying it). Tenten almost never stayed after, since she had a job. Shino wasn't here either, because he was in Environmental club, which met on Thursdays.

"Ah! It's so boring without Kiba!" Naruto complained, turning into the school and wandering the hallways.

"…so we've bumped the sports festival," He heard almost immediately after he entered the school, "and put the senior trip in it's place. It's just too soon for a sports festival. Plus," Neji and a senior that Naruto knew he was introduced to but had forgotten his name turned the corner and nearly collided with him.

"Naruto?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh…People watching!" Naruto grinned, and Neji smiled slightly, shaking his head.

"You joined that club?"

"It's really fun… well; usually it is, when Kiba's here." Naruto frowned. "But it's boring right now. There's no one to watch."

The other senior snickered. "You could watch Sasuke and Sakura work." He offered.

Neji rolled his eyes. "That's pretty boring though."

"Maybe I can get some dirt on Sasu-bastard, though!" Naruto said excitedly. "Tell me where the office is!"

So after Neji directed him there, Naruto took off like a speeding bullet to find his target. He found Sakura and Sasuke in the Student Government office, just as Neji had said, talking quietly.

Feeling somewhat like a secret agent, Naruto somersaulted past the door to look into one of the windows. Sakura was filing away papers, and Sasuke was typing something up. They were talking— Sasuke was talking more than he'd ever talked to Naruto— about something that seemed to be important. Naruto crawled to the door and pushed it open a little bit, lying flat on the ground so that Sakura and Sasuke couldn't see him.

"…only about fifty more dollars," Sakura was saying. Sasuke didn't respond. "…Sasuke? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Sasuke quickly responded.

"Yeah, right. Jeez, you should just talk to him about it. I'm sure he'd understand. He's a great guy."

"Whatever." Sasuke muttered and then there was the sound of furious typing. Sakura sighed loudly.

"Does he know that… you… you know."

"Of course he doesn't know!" Sasuke snapped. "And I'm not going to tell him."

"You're only going to get pissier if you don't," Sakura pointed out. "And besides, all the girls sort of notice it too. You shine more when you're with him."

"I _shine_?" Sasuke asked, sounding disgusted.

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, you shine."

Sasuke sounded mortified. "Do girls really say that about me?"

"We say lots of things about you." Sakura was probably grinning. "But listen. You smile more now, and you talk, and you even sort of have friends."

Sasuke snorted. "I've _always_ had friends. And you _know_ why I don't talk so much."

"Yeah, isn't that the truth." Sakura murmured. "Does… does he still hit you?"

"What do you think?"

Naruto widened his eyes, then grabbed his people watching notebook and began scribbling furiously. _Sasuke and Sakura— what's going on? Sakura no longer drooling over Sasu-bastard, Sasu-bastard not telling someone something, some one hits Sasu-bastard._

"You should tell someone, Sasuke!"

"Listen, Sakura. You're not going to tell anyone," Sasuke ground out firmly. "Don't even write it in your diary. I can handle this."

"But Sasuke,"

"Please, Sakura." Sasuke said, finally. Naruto scribbled this down as well.

"…I won't." She murmured, finally.

There was a brief silence, and then Sasuke asked, "What did Lee say?"

"Oh!" Sakura said happily. "He said he'll stop wearing green spandex suits if I date him!"

"And?" Sasuke asked, a note of— Naruto stifled a gasp— mirth in his voice.

"And of course I'll date him if he doesn't wear those! Around me, anyway." Sakura made a disgusted noise. "It's just that after two years of seeing Guy-sensei in"

"Please don't continue." Sasuke groaned, and the two started laughing. Naruto couldn't help but gasp then. _Sasuke? Laugh?_

"Did you hear that?" Sakura asked, and then there were footsteps. Naruto quickly somersaulted away, singing in his head _secret— AGENT MAN!_ He'd made it halfway down the hallway before Sakura yelled, "NARUTO!"

Naruto looked around, then dashed down another hallway and into an empty classroom. Sakura turned down the hall way and called out for Naruto again, claiming that she wasn't going to hurt him if he came out before she found him (so Naruto stayed hidden). She passed the classroom he was hiding in, and turned down another hallway. Naruto stayed put for about five more minutes, then came out of the classroom.

"That was close." Naruto sighed in relief.

"Very."

"AH! Sasu-bastard, what the hell?!" Sasuke was leaning against the wall watching Naruto with a smirk crossing his visage.

"You don't hide very well." Sasuke pointed out. "and you dropped this." He held out Naruto's people watching journal. "Spying on me now, dobe?"

"What's it to you?" Naruto scowled, reaching out to take the journal back. Sasuke flicked it out of his reach.

"So what exactly did you hear while you were listening into our conversation?" Sasuke asked, observing his nails.

"I…uh… Hey, you want to hear a joke?" Naruto asked quickly. Before Sauske could respond, Naruto started, "Uh… a bear and a rabbit were.. uh… taking a shit! And the bear turned to the rabbit… and … uhm, he asked, 'Excuse me, do you have a problem with shit sticking to your fur?' and the rabbit was like, 'No, I don't.' So the bear wiped his ass with the rabbit." Sasuke stared at him. "Good, right? I just made it up." Naruto put on his best innocent smile.

Sasuke covered his eyes with one hand and started laughing. "You are amazingly stupid, dobe," He chuckled, handing over the journal._ Oh dear god, he's cracked._ Naruto thought. _He's laughing again. Laughing! …it's…it's a nice laugh. He should laugh more often, the bastard…_

"Thanks, teme." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he got his journal back.

Sasuke turned and went back towards the Student Government room. "By the way." He said over his shoulder, waving a piece of paper towards Naruto, "If you tell anyone what you heard, I'll kill you."

Naruto gazed at the paper, then opened his journal. The page he'd just written on had been torn out.

"You… you bastard! That's defacing my property! It's against the law! I could sue you!"

Sasuke only laughed and turned the corner.


	16. In Which We Search For It

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** _LyricsBorne:_ I was supposed to tell you about the song they play in this chapter... It's from the anime series Air, and it's called Tori no Uta, which means Song of the Bird. Some people say it's poem of the bird, but... Shika no Uta is the Song of Four Seasons, so... Ira-chan says that's not a valid argument, but whatever. Ira-chan also says that she wants you to listen to the UNO arrangement, so see below! Take out the spaces and put in an equals sigh, and you're good to go. Also, this chapter is very short.

See: www. youtube. Com /watch?v (equal sign here) Oi7-2WmP2J4

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **W**e **S**earch **F**or **I**t

On Wednesday, Naruto and Sasuke had a lesson with Kakashi. Unlike usual, Kakashi actually showed up early and brought the boys to a private music room.

"This is where some of our school's pianists play," Kakashi explained to Naruto. Naruto looked around in awe. There were at least ten synthesizers, each tucked away in a cubby-like room of their own. Kakashi pointed towards a room with lots of equipment in it. "The teacher sits in there and listens into the student's music with headphones."

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Today," Kakashi motioned to the upright piano in the center of the room, "We'll be practicing with this."

Naruto blinked. "We will?"

"Yes," Kakashi eye-smiled, "Sasuke is going to play a piece on the piano, and Naruto, you are going to do what he says."

"What? How does this help me get ready for the thingie on Friday?" Naruto scowled.

"You don't need anymore practice, do you? All you really need now is what Sasuke can teach you." Kakashi told him, and Sasuke didn't reply, just sat down at the piano and stretched out his fingers. Naruto watched curiously.

At first Sasuke looked pensively at the keys and Naruto thought that maybe he was thinking of a song to play. Then Sasuke started to play.

When Sasuke played, the music was more than notes… They were something more. Something that Naruto couldn't do yet. It was even better than when Gaara played… there was something _in_ the music… What had Sasuke done? Naruto knew every note Sasuke was playing, but he didn't know what made them sound so different. Naruto's own music sounded hollow compared to this.

Kakashi said something— Naruto wasn't listening— and left. And now Naruto and Sasuke were in the room all alone.

"Hey, Sasuke…" Naruto murmured, and Sasuke stopped playing and looked back at Naruto, looking a little pissed off at being interrupted. "How are you doing that?"

"Huh?" Sasuke looked confused. "Doing what?"

"You make them sound better." Naruto tried to explain. "I mean, it's… I know the notes. Like, just where you stopped, wasn't that D sharp and B sharp? How did you make them sound like… how they sounded?"

Sasuke frowned. "It's more than what their names are." He said. "It's not just that."

"What else is it?"

"It's how you feel when you play them." The onyx eyed boy glared at Naruto. "You're always happy."

"Huh?"

"It shows in your music. You're always happy. So your music is bland." Sasuke shrugged. "Plus, you only see it as notes on paper. Music is more than that."

"Then what is it? What makes your music better?"

"I can't tell you what it is!" Sasuke snapped. "You have to find it on your own!"

"…but music just makes me happy." Naruto murmured. "I can't play any differently than how I've been playing now."

"Then you have to find something that changes that." Sasuke said.

"What changed your music? What makes your music sound like that?" Naruto asked again, curiously. "Why does your music sound better?" Sasuke shrugged. Naruto scowled. "You do know! You have _it_. What is _it_? How do you find _it_? Tell me, teme!"

Sasuke turned back to the piano. "Can you sing?"

"Can I… What kind of question is that?" Naruto complained.

"Can you or can't you?"

"I don't know. I've never tried."

"Maybe if you sang, you'd be able to find _it_."

"What is _it_ already?!"

"When you find _it_, notes will be more than black marks in a pattern on a page." Sasuke murmured, putting his hands back on the keys. "This song is called Tori no Uta, Song of the Bird. When you go home, learn it."

"What? Are you giving me homework?" Naruto yelped.

"The next time we have a lesson, you can sing it when I play." Sasuke continued, playing the piece again.

Naruto was going to complain, but he couldn't grumble. Not when Sasuke was playing like that.

* * *

"What is it, Gaara?" Naruto asked, pushing off and swinging. Gaara kicked some snow and said nothing. "I didn't think he could do it. But Sasu-bastard, he made everything sound so much better! It was more than just a bunch of notes! I feel like everything I've done so far was a waste. Gaara, how do you make music pretty like that?" 

Gaara shrugged. "Emotion?"

"Emotion?" Naruto asked. Gaara didn't answer. "…Well, Sasuke said my music was too happy. But I don't know how else to be. I mean, I've always been happy, right?" Gaara looked at him, his expression quizzical. "Okay, not always. But most of the time, haven't I been happy? I don't know how to be sad."

"You know how to be sad." Gaara responded, staring out over the snow covered playground.

"I want to be better than Sasu-bastard." Naruto told him. "But what makes me sad?"

Gaara seemed to be thinking. "…find Sai." He said, finally.

"What for? I hate Sai." He dragged his feet in the snow to stop himself from swinging.

Gaara shrugged. "Sai makes you sad."

Naruto blinked. "He does?...he _does_!" Naruto grinned, standing up straight. "Sai does make me sad! Really sad! And angry too, angry and sad and…" Naruto hesitated, frowning. "But that's why I hate Sai." Gaara shrugged again. Naruto started to swing again, babbling. "Why can't I just play music that's happy? Does music always have to be sad and angry? I don't understand. It's so much easier if it's just notes on a page. Doesn't it sound right if you just follow all the instructions? That's what they tell you the notes for, so you just follow them and then everything'll be alright. I mean… I wish life was like that too. I wish there were rules for life that I could follow so that everyone liked me."

"You're making too much noise," Gaara said, finally, "for something so minor."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, hurt. "This isn't minor! This is really, really big! This means everything! Everything!"

Gaara shook his head. "You're overreacting." He said coolly. "It's just music."

Naruto frowned. "I have to sound like Sasuke did, Gaara. It's more than just music now. You should have heard it. It was really, really good. He doesn't play the violin like that, though. I don't know why. Maybe he does and he didn't want me to get _it_ from him!"

Gaara got up and started to head home, so Naruto got up and followed him.

* * *


	17. In Which Sai Speaks

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** I'm pretty sure you're all tired of LyricsBorne... She's so weird. I apologize for anything stupid she might've said, but she's pissing me off right now, so I kicked her down a staircase. And I haven't checked yet, but if she's called me short, I'm NOT. It's absolutely normal to be my height... I think.

Anyway, this chapter isn't my favorite, and it's not the easiest to follow, but live with me because I only had two hours of sleep last night and I'm not going to rewrite this... AGAIN. That is all, enjoy... so I can sleep.

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **S**ai **S**peaks

Temari told Naruto where Sai lived. _28 Highland Avenue_, she had explained. _Where there's one twisted tree growing at the end of a driveway._

Here he was. Thursday afternoon, bundled up in his orange jacket and hoping to God that Sai didn't kick him out the moment he got into the house. He needed this. To play music like Sasuke… or if it was just to learn why Sai hated him so much. Naruto didn't know what it was exactly that he wanted from Sai, but he wanted something, so he was going to get it.

The only way to find out what he wanted was to go back… to freshman year. And maybe from there he'd be able to figure it all out. It was time to talk about the incident, for the first time in a very long time. Naruto stalled and counted the cars that passed him (sixteen), the stop signs from the bus stop to Sai's street (four), how many chilly gusts came his way (ten), and how many white houses he passed while he walked (twenty).

The twisted tree in Sai's yard reminded him of a lecture he had paid attention to at Seishun High. It was on one of Hamlet's speeches, and although Naruto had never been any good at English, this speech played in his head like a broken record or a stuck movie reel. The lecture wasn't very interesting until the teacher began reading from the text. _To be or not to be, that is the question._ To live or not to live. Obviously the tree really wanted to live, wanted to live so bad it didn't even mind being gnarled and ugly. Naruto stared at the twisted tree for only a couple more seconds, then crossed the road, went up the walk, and to Sai's door.

The woman who answered recognized Naruto. She glared at him and snapped, "What do you want?"

"I…" Naruto faltered. "…Is…Is Sai home? I want to…"

The woman curled her upper lip in some sort of sneer. "I don't think Sai wants to"

"I'll see him." Sai's chilly voice startled Naruto, but when he looked up into Sai's dark eyes, he remembered how much they hated and abhorred each other. Sai looked different now. His eyes were sort of dead, and there was that ugly mark— the one that… Gaara had… Naruto shook his head. The mark was long and twisted, a scar that ran thin on Sai's skin, like some sort of decoration. His hair was longer, he only had four fingers on his right hand…

_The incident._ Naruto thought. _Everything was my fault._

"Have a seat." Said Sai calmly. "Are you thirsty?" Naruto didn't realize he had walked inside. He was still bundled up in his coat, his boots were still on, leaving watery puddles on the wood floor. He wanted to offer to take them off, but…

"N-no." Naruto took a deep breath. "I just wanted to…"

"Talk?" Sai asked, a sneer on his lips. "About what? How you're doing now? I don't want to hear it. Are you coming to apologize? I don't want to hear that either."

"No. None of that." Naruto murmured, suddenly glad for his coat. The room felt cold. "I just want to…why do you hate me so much?"

Sai stared at him. Naruto stared back. "You want to talk about what happened." Sai said.

"I…"

"You want me to tell you what happened, because Gaara won't, and you weren't there." Sai grinned. "Because you know that it's your fault, don't you?"

Naruto lowered his eyes.

"You have pretty eyes." Sai said absentmindedly. "Has anyone told you that? When I first met you, I didn't think someone like you should be allowed to have eyes like that."

"…" Naruto clenched his fists.

"No one liked you," Sai continued, "except for Gaara, and he was already marked as some sort of psychotic mental ward prison inmate, so you were just shunned even more. Isn't that right, Naruto?"

_Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…_ Naruto recited, as he watched Sai sit comfortably on his couch, smiling halfway.

"In junior high… what was it that you were mad at me for again? Oh, that's right. I got you suspended, didn't I?" Sai grinned. "You told Gaara something, something violent."

"I didn't say anything violent." Naruto whispered.

"What did you tell him then? 'Why don't you go to school tomorrow and maim that son of a bitch Sai?'" Sai laughed. "You told him something that made him angry."

"You made him angry." Naruto pointed out. "You always made him angry."

"Yeah, but he never flipped out on me like he did that day, did he?" Sai asked, raising an eyebrow. It made his scar rise and fall, squirming like a snake on his features. "That was your fault. You told him something. You pushed him over the edge. So the next day, Gaara came to school with a knife, didn't he? But you didn't know. You were at home."

"I didn't know." Naruto murmured. "I didn't tell him to."

_He had gone home. He had gone home and fumed. He was so angry at Sai, so angry he could almost… kill him. Gaara came over, and they sat upstairs in Naruto's room while Iruka tried to get a tutor, like always._

"_I wish I could just hurt him." Naruto steamed. "I wish I could just kill him. You know, Gaara? I wish I could kill Sai! I can't believe he got away with this! I'll get him back. You'll help me, right, Gaara?"_

_Gaara nodded. And Naruto felt better._

"I believe you," Sai said, and he added a mirthless laugh. "Of course I believe you. You wouldn't want me dead, right, Uzumaki?"

Guiltily, Naruto breathed out and glowered at the floor. "What did Gaara do." He ground out, reminding himself of Sasuke. He pushed Sasuke out of his head, looking up at Sai. Why did Sasuke and Sai look slightly the same?

Sai lifted his hand and began to trace the scar, starting above his eyebrow. His hand moved slowly down to his cheek, then curled under his chin. "Gaara fought with me." Sai said conversationally. "Because of you."

"What did he do to you."

"You don't already see it, Uzumaki? He cut off my finger," Sai raised his right hand, pointer-fingerless, "And he gave me so many scars. I guess this one is his pride and joy," Sai traced the one on his face again, "Because the world can see it, can't they?"

_Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing them… end them._ Naruto recited, taking another deep breath. "It isn't my fault."

"Really. Who's fault is it then, Uzumaki? Mine? Gaara's? You just like to place the blame." A laugh. "Because we know what you're like beneath it all, Uzumaki." Sai smirked. "Yes… we know it. Beneath it all, you're just like your father. That why the school knew you had something to do with it, didn't they? They went to you first thing, trying to figure out what happened. They wanted to know why Gaara wanted to kill me."

"He didn't want that," Naruto faltered.

"He wanted me dead, Uzumaki," Sai snarled. "You know it and I know it."

"Gaara isn't like that!" Naruto roared. "He's not malicious!"

"Then explain my finger, you bastard!" Sai yelled back. "Explain my scars! Explain all the blood I lost! Explain how much money I needed! Gaara was aiming to kill me— admit it!"

Naruto clamped his mouth shut.

"If I had just said something to him or gotten him suspended, he would have just hit me. Just like always. But I got you, and you control Gaara like a little puppet. Just like your father used to do to his victims."

"I don't know my father," Naruto snarled. "And he has nothing to do with this!"

"You don't think so?" Sai laughed again. "You think we all hated you for no reason, Uzumaki? Do you know how much blood your name sheds, Naruto Uzumaki? Do you have any idea?"

"What are you talking about?"

Sai grinned. "Leave it up to the psychologist not to tell you."

"What? Tell me what?"

"Your father killed people, Uzumaki. He was real good at it too. Loved death." Sai's eyes grew darker. "And you are the spitting image of him, right? I bet you've heard that from your foster father psychologist. Remember in elementary school, when we made fun of you for counting? Why do you think you count?"

Naruto stared glassily at Sai. "Wh-why do I…"

"You know, don't you?" Sai grinned ferally.

"I don't remember anything before Iruka and the adoption agency."

"You're lying." Sai hissed. "You don't want to remember what happened before Iruka and the adoption agency, but you know. You know what you used to count. What did you count before the adoption agency?"

"I don't know!" Naruto exclaimed. "How am I supposed to know! I was four!"

"When I was four," Said Sai smugly, "I had a sandbox in my backyard and two orange trucks that I played with all the time. And when you were four, what did you play with, Naruto?"

"I don't know…" Naruto lowered his eyes again.

"You're sure? You're sure you don't know?"

_To die, to sleep; no more, and by sleep we mean to end…_ Naruto closed his eyes. "When I was four…" He murmured, finally. "When I was four…" His fingers clenched so hard they drew blood, "there was a pool… that I played in. And…one day…it was filled… filled with… blood… Blood and…" Naruto stopped, backing up, away from Sai. "…Blood and…"

"Bodies." Sai cleared up. "Blood and bodies. And you sat in the middle of that pool of blood, and you counted. What did you count?"

"The heartbeats. I counted the heart beats. They were alive. They were barely alive…" Naruto could feel himself trembling. He had to count now. He had to get it out of his head. "Twenty seven picture frames," He counted quickly, "Two sofas, one TV, one rug, seven things have the color green in them, three vases, nineteen fingers…"

"You're trying to stop it!" Sai accused. "But this is what you came here for!" He shouted over Naruto's maniac counting. "You came because you wanted to know!"

"Twenty words," Naruto covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. "One Sai, One Naruto," He took a deep breath and rattled off all sorts of things that he could remember counting, drowning out Sai's yells until he fell into deep darkness and couldn't get up.

* * *


	18. In Which We Were All Worried

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:** _eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** If ever you're having a bad day, find someone and kick them down a staircase. It made _me_ feel better, but then again I just have to do violent things some times. I will be updating twice today, on a side note, but maybe later in the day I'll update again, because right now I have some serious Elite Four ass to kick in Pokemon Pearl version. And as a random fact of the day, my Pikachu can Surf. Isn't that weird?

I forgot to mention in the last chapter...my little sister, **kimisu**, beta'd chapter uh... 17 for me. When I say beta'd, I mean that I dragged her into my room, sat her down, and made her read it to see if it made any sense at all (which I guess it did) and then kicked her out so I could write the next chapter. I don't usually get my stories beta'd so I kinda forgot to mention it... but I'm thankful never-the-less. So domo arigato, imoto-chan!

Furthermore, thank you to all the people who reviewed last chapter! I was surprised, but I'm glad everyone liked it!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **W**e **W**ere **A**ll **W**orried

Naruto woke up, groggy.

"Ah, sleeping beauty." He blinked then turned. Kaida was watching him apprehensively, even though her voice was as sarcastic as normal. "And how do we feel?" Her shoulders were tense and her eyes seemed darker than ever. Upon second glance, Naruto noticed that Kaida was wearing the Konoha Private robes that the choir wore during concerts and so forth.

"What? Where am I?"

"Hospital, idiot." Kaida relaxed slightly. "Some kid named Sai brought you here. You were like, muttering numbers in your sleep. Totally knocked out." She frowned at him. "What happened?"

"Where's Iruka?"

"Right over there. He's been up all day and night worried about you, you know." Kaida said. Naruto turned to look. Iruka was asleep in a chair, looking sleep-deprived. Next to him was a very well dressed Suzuka, who was also asleep, and next to her was someone Naruto didn't see very often… Vincent. The dark eyed man was still awake, unlike the others. He was reading a book calmly, but Naruto could see that he was a little worried. He seemed ruffled. _Why's he worried about me? He doesn't know me…_ Naruto remembered what Sai had revealed to him.

"Kaida… I…"

She frowned at him, and he stopped talking. He realized that she really didn't want to hear about why he was in the hospital, and it sort of relieved him. "You missed the recital." She said. "You were out all today…" Naruto blinked in shock.

"But…But I memorized the song! What, did they play _without_ me? Didn't Sasu-bastard make them wait?"

"Why would he do something like that? It isn't up to him when the ceremony starts!" Kaida rubbed her temples. "Sakura and the others were worried sick. They're all outside in the waiting room. The nurses said it was nothing serious, just that it was really weird, but…" She lowered her eyes. "Look, Naruto." She said, softly. "You shouldn't just go running around scaring people like that."

"Why are you blaming me for this? Do you think I wanted to pass out?"

"I don't know, Naruto." Kaida looked at him sadly. _Oh…she's actually…this isn't a joke? She's not going to do something really evil?_ He reached out to take her hand, and she jerked away from him. "Just because I'm sad doesn't mean I've lost my mind, you moron!" She snapped. "As long as you're fine, then…"

Naruto smiled. "I'm fine. Thanks, Kaida."

She just bowed her head and looked sullen for a couple minutes, and Naruto thought maybe she was crying until she looked up and asked, "Want to watch me chew gum?"

"What?" He asked, looking quizzically at her.

"You can't chew gum, but I can. Want to watch me do it?" She reached into her robes and Naruto cried:

"Stop teasing! That's not funny, you vampire!"

Iruka jumped out of sleep and yelped, "Naruto, you're awake!"

Naruto couldn't even say a hello to Iruka, the man was already on him, feeling his forehead and asking if he felt sick at all. "I'm _fine_," Naruto promised for the third time in a row.

"What happened?" Iruka asked, looking Naruto in the eye.

_Leave it to the psychologist not to tell you,_ Sai's voice rang in Naruto's head, and Naruto lowered his eyes.

"I…I can't remember." He lied. Iruka didn't ask what Naruto had counted while he was at Sai's house, he just clasped Naruto's hand in his and looked worried. Naruto wondered if Sai was lying. He wondered if Sai was… just being mean, mean because he hated Naruto and Naruto was doing better than he was. Was it all because of his father? Iruka had never mentioned Naruto's father. Naruto decided that he'd rather believe Sai, if Iruka wasn't going to tell him.

Suzuka was roused and she came over to the bed also, with Vincent, the two of them looking worried. "_Naruto_…" She breathed, before she smothered him in a hug. "Are you alright? Oh Naruto, you worried us all sick!"

"Give him some room to breathe," Vincent murmured, and inwardly Naruto thanked the man, who was watching Naruto with a quiet demeanor.

"Naruto…Why were you at Sai's house? Temari said she told you the address," Iruka said, and he fixed Naruto with a glare that read _don't try to weasel your way out of this one either._

"I… I really don't know. I just… I wasn't thinking."

"You're shitting me." Kaida said wryly. "You? Not thinking? _Pshaw_."

"Shut up." Naruto glared at her.

"Not now, guys," Suzuka said seriously.

"Look…" Vincent said quietly, "For right now, let's just let Naruto's friends come to visit him, okay? When we bring Naruto home tomorrow morning, we'll question him there." Then he nodded at Naruto, who didn't know how to thank Vincent for saving him from that difficult predicament.

"Alright…" Iruka agreed.

"We should tell the nurses that he's up," Suzuka said. "Iruka, we'll get out of your hair, okay? Give us a call if you need any help at all, alright?"

Iruka nodded and thanked them for coming, and Naruto watched Kaida leave, startled when she shot him a worried glance.

"Kaida…" He murmured.

"She's been really great, Naruto." Iruka said quietly. "She stopped Gaara from going after Sai again."

"She stopped Gaara?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"…She's very headstrong, isn't she?" Iruka said appreciatively.

_What in the seven hells would possess her to do that?!_ Naruto thought, but he thanked her for keeping Gaara out of trouble in his head anyway. _I don't want Gaara to go away ever…_

"Uh…Mr…Mr. Umino… May we see Naruto?" Naruto turned his head. It was Sakura, looking meek (like she always did in front of adults, Naruto noticed). Iruka nodded, telling Naruto he'd be right back and not to move a muscle while he was gone. As Iruka slipped out, all his friends crowded in bearing various gifts.

"NARUTO! The pallor of your cheeks… life has once more returned to your youthful body! Oh happy day!" Lee yelped when he entered the room. Neji kept him from reaching Naruto (Naruto was afraid Neji might let go and Lee would shake his hand again). The gifts and flowers were neatly piling up by Naruto's bed, and he wanted to tell them that he just had a nervous breakdown or something, but he wasn't sure how they'd take that news… he only assumed they wouldn't take it very well.

"What happened?" Ino asked, her eyes wide.

"You missed the ceremony, man!" Kiba complained.

"Are you feeling better?" Tenten asked, worriedly.

"Did you eat something bad?" Chouji asked.

"N-Naruto-sempai…" Hinata murmured.

"I'm fine. Really." Naruto grinned at them. "It was just a dizzy spell."

"Dizzy spells don't knock people out for a day," Shikamaru spoke up. Naruto was surprised Shikamaru was even there… and was that Shino? And…

"Sasu-bastard?!" Naruto cried, staring at said boy with saucer-like eyes. "You came?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Duh, dobe."

"We were all worried," Sakura said, and then she frowned. "Kankuro said that you went to visit one of your old enemies."

"Is Kankuro here? Is Gaara here? How about Temari, is she here too?" Naruto asked, excitedly. Ino nodded and went to the door, and soon the siblings entered the room. They quickly joined the throng at Naruto's bedside.

"Naruto, dude… are you alright?" Kankuro asked worriedly.

"I shouldn't have told you the address…" Temari murmured, hanging her head. "Knowing what Sai is like…"

"But I had to go," Naruto whined. "Right, Gaara?"

The green eyed boy stared at Naruto for a second, then sighed, but didn't make any indication that he agreed or disagreed with Naruto.

"What possessed you to go see Sai anyway?" Kankuro asked, scowling. "Wasn't he the same bastard that caused the incident?"

"Yeah…" Naruto looked at his hands. "That's kinda why… I went."

"What?" Temari frowned. "Naruto, you know what happened during that… incident! Sai hates your guts. We were probably lucky his mother was home!"

"What incident?" Kiba asked. "What happened?"

Naruto, Temari, and Kankuro looked at Gaara, who didn't make a noise or move.

"It's…sort of…" Naruto started.

"Private." Kankuro finished.

Naruto's Konoha friends looked warily at each other, and Naruto felt a little dejected. He pouted and fiddled with his sheets. Kankuro noticed and frowned.

"We'll go, Naruto." He said, finally. "But tomorrow, you're going to tell us everything that happened, okay?"

"Okay," He muttered.

"Rest up," Temari told him. "…I got you tickets to Ichiraku's when you get out tomorrow morning."

"Thanks."

Gaara turned and left before his brother and sister, and Naruto looked back at his bedsheets after the trio had left.

"So something serious happened, then?" Kiba broke the silence.

Naruto sighed. "Yeah. Something serious. Seishun stuff," He frowned, "Nothing you guys have to worry about, in any case."

"…You missed it, man…" Kiba chuckled a little bit. "Hiraku tripped when we were getting on stage for the ceremony." Naruto grinned.

Tenten cracked a smile. "Kakashi had a porn book on his podium."

Sakura piped up, "Guy-sensei wore a green spandex suit to the ceremony!"

"Did you know Kakashi-sensei didn't show up at all for orchestra that morning either?" Lee said, and Naruto looked over at him. "I was worried, for Guy-sensei and Kakashi-sensei are eternal rivals of youth, and Kakashi-sensei has never missed a day!"

"Yeah… it was kind of weird," Sakura agreed, nodding at Lee. "He came in during lunch."

"He looked _really_ messed up," Neji said. "Like someone had been throttling him."

Naruto frowned. "Weird!" He said.

"We're glad you're alright." Ino said, finally, and Naruto thanked them all and listened to their explanations of the ceremony ("Dude, it was _so_ lacking without you," Kiba said, and the others agreed), and even Shino spoke to him, which was pretty monumental in Naruto's book.

Shikamaru was looking more thoughtful than usual though, and when Naruto asked why, the genius boy only shook his head. "Just thinking." He said, looking at Naruto carefully. "Could…you tell me when the incident was?"

Naruto frowned. "When?"

"Was it this year? Last year…?" Shikamaru asked. There was a pregnant pause.

"The incident… was last year. Last school year. The beginning of...last school year." Naruto told him. Shikamaru nodded. No one spoke again, as Naruto fidgeted uneasily in the bed. "…I'm sorta tired," Naruto said lamely.

"You _JUST_ woke up, man!" Kiba complained.

"Maybe you're hungry?" Chouji asked. Naruto nodded at that.

Sakura suddenly took charge, "Okay then, everyone out!" She ordered, and then turned to Naruto. "We'll get Mr. Umino to bring you up some food, okay?"

"Thanks, Sakura!" Naruto grinned. He said good-bye to all of his friends, but noticed that Sasuke hadn't left yet. "What's up, teme?"

"Dobe," Sasuke returned, his voice strained. He sidled over to the bed and they stared at each other. Naruto looked into Sasuke's questioning eyes and then motioned to the chair that Kaida had been sitting in.

When Sasuke didn't move or speak, Naruto smirked. "What, are you too good to talk to me now, Sasu-bastard?" Indignantly, Sasuke pulled a face and walked over to Naruto.

"Shut the hell up, dobe." Sasuke said, sitting down in Kaida's chair. There was an appeciative silence, and then, "…Why would you go visit someone who hates you?"

"…I…You want to know the truth?" Naruto asked. Sasuke gave him a look that said, _yes, you dumbass, why else would I have asked?_. "…I wanted to find that 'it' that you have in your music. Gaara thought it might be emotion… and you said I was too happy, so…"

Sasuke looked mortified. "…you went because of me." He said, after a long silence.

"Sort of, but it's not like that…" Naruto said, and Sasuke got up. "Wait, where are you going?" Sasuke just hurried towards the door. Naruto jumped up out of bed and followed, grabbing Sasuke's arm and dragging him away from the door to the room. "Hey! Teme, you can't just walk away while we're talking!"

"Yes I can." Sasuke said coldly. He tried to wrench Naruto's grip off, but Naruto didn't budge.

"What are you so mad about?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Get off." Sasuke hissed. Naruto quickly thought of Gaara. _What would I do if this was Gaara? _He thought, quickly. Then he grinned.

"Sasuke." He said, and Sasuke opened his mouth, probably to tell Naruto to get the hell off of him now, but the words never came. Naruto hugged Sasuke for all he was worth. "It's okay, Sasuke. You don't have to be mad 'cause I got hurt," He whispered to the confused boy in his arms. They stayed that way for at least three hundred seconds (five minutes, which was a record in Naruto's book). Sasuke had turned pink (an un-manly color, Naruto thought, but he would've been surprised if Sasuke had flushed completely red) and absolutely tense, as if he'd never been hugged before.

"N-Naruto…?" Sasuke mumbled, squirming to get out of Naruto's grasp. Naruto let him go, and for an awkward moment, they stared at each other. Then Sasuke collected his wits and summoned up a watery smirk. "Don't get so sentimental, _dobe_."

"You were the one acting like a teme, _teme_." Naruto said, smiling widely.

"Whatever." Sasuke turned around. "I'm coming over next week." He said over his shoulder, and Naruto stared after him.

"Hey! You can't just make those decisions!"


	19. In Which Naruto Learns More

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:**_eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** Well, I'm not at home, so don't expect lots of these. I just have this on my flash drive and have a desire to put it up online, so! I think I have three documents, and I'm probably not going to put them all up because I have soooo much work. Like, sociology? Jeez. And I thought First Year Enrichment would be easier, but they already gave us homework. All I can really think about is how much easier my life is going to be when school actually starts. I might ask you guys to help me out with a survey I'm doing for sociology... I need like, ten responses... when I pick my topic... I'll reward you with a chapter!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **N**aruto **L**earns **M**ore **T**han **W**hat **H**e **B**argained **F**or

Needless to say, Naruto's weekend was a lot more hectic than it should have been. And Iruka was more grumpy than usual, but not at Naruto, which was pretty damn weird! Iruka was always very professional and never stressed his work problems in front of Naruto…

Furthermore, Suzuka, Kaida, and Vincent visited on Saturday right when Iruka drove Naruto home. Kaida acted like everything was absolutely normal, and Naruto was really thankful for that. Suzuka questioned him at first, but afterwards, she seemed to be acting somewhat normal. Vincent only looked at Naruto curiously, his dark eyes poring over him in a very unnerving way. When Naruto asked Kaida about it, she shrugged and said, "Vincent knows a lot about sickness and stuff… He's probably just worried. You wouldn't think so when you look at him, but he's actually really… soft. It's kinda funny," She smirked, "And also perfect blackmail material."

Naruto did get to see Kankuro, Temari and Gaara, but he wasn't allowed to leave the house, and he didn't want to talk about Sai and what he'd learned around Iruka. The trio understood, but Temari was whispering to Iruka before she left, so Naruto immediately suspected her of something and decided he wouldn't talk to her about what happened at Sai's place. That was too risky… Iruka couldn't know about what happened… not yet.

On Sunday, Naruto was still on house arrest, and Iruka was pretty much waiting for a phone call all day. He seemed really pissed off about it until about ten o-clock when the phone rang, and then he started acting all girly and weird. Naruto tried to listen in, but Iruka was doing most of the talking, and it was mostly about how worried for Naruto and how the person on the other line had yet to tell Naruto what was going on between them. Naruto hung up on his end and went to bed.

He was just about to fall asleep when he remembered something that Temari had mentioned in passing. _"She said that Hatake should tell someone something before things got out of control…"_ Naruto sat up straight, widening his eyes. Was Kakashi on the phone? What that who Iruka was talking to? Then he relaxed. _Iruka isn't gay… uh… is he? His best friend is Suzuka… but guys can have girls for best friends, right? He's a little girly sometimes, but… that doesn't mean anything… right?_

Naruto fell into a restless but thankfully dreamless sleep.

* * *

In homeroom the next day, Naruto was surprised to find that Sakura and Ino seemed more into worrying over him than obsessing over Sasuke. 

"I'll carry your books, if you want," Ino said, and Naruto shook his head.

"I'm fine!" He complained. "Absolutely fine! Don't worry about me, okay?"

Sakura frowned at him. "If you say so." She said doubtfully.

"What did I miss on Friday? You didn't bring my homework!" Naruto said cheerily. Ino rolled her eyes.

"I didn't bring anything because we didn't have any homework!" She told him. "But if you'd like, I could just give you some random assignments now." Ino was in all of Naruto's classes, which was a relief for Naruto (when Ino wasn't angry at him).

"Nope, I'm good!" He grinned.

Ino smiled. "Don't ever get sick again! It's boring to obsess over Sasuke-kun without you bothering us."

Sakura got a mischievous glint in her eye. "In fact," She said, ushering the girls away, "maybe it'd be better if we left Sasuke-kun and you alone today."

"Huh?" Naruto watched the confused girls get pushed off by Sakura and Ino (Ino looked a whole lot more confused, but she just did as Saukra asked), and then turned to Sasuke. "Weird, huh?"

"Hn." The dark eyed boy stared at his desk, obviously uncomfortable.

Naruto sighed and twiddled his fingers. "You're really weird, Sasu-bastard. I only hugged you. You act like I was trying to strangle you. What, did I hurt you or something?"

Sasuke looked up quickly, his face pink. "N-no!"

Naruto grinned. "You _surrrrre_?" He asked mischievously. "Then what are you all weird about? You're even blushing, Sasu-bastard, why's that?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto and made a point of looking at his desk again. "No reason," He said calmly.

Naruto stared at him for a little while, then grinned. "You liked it!" He cheered gleefully. "You liked it and you want me to do it again, right?"

Sasuke huffed. "Shut up, dobe."

"See, that's the Sasu-bastard I know. Do you shit ice cubes or broken glass or something?"

"What the… dobe, what the hell is your problem?" Sasuke glared at him.

"Well, I don't know, you're always all uptight and weird. Why can't you just chill some of the time?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke clamped his mouth shut and glared at Naruto some more. "What?" Naruto complained.

The bell rang, and homeroom begun.

* * *

For the next two days, Sasuke refused to talk to Naruto about anything, which pissed Naruto off immensely. However, Naruto did learn (much to his displeasure) that Kiba and Hinata had gotten together while Naruto was in the hospital. 

"She was really sad and I was there for her," Kiba said, as if it was absolutely normal to get together with a girl while your best friend was in the hospital. "Are you mad, Naruto? I don't want to… you know."

"No, I'm not mad. I wasn't interested in Hinata that way anyway," Naruto decided, but he still punched Kiba.

"Ow! So who are you interested in? Akane?" Kiba asked, rubbing his arm.

"No, not Akane. I'm not really interested in anyone," Naruto blinked in surprise. "Is that weird?"

"Yeah… probably. But whatever, you've got two more years to go here, you'll get interested in someone."

"I guess."

"If you really want to get interested in someone, you're going to have to stop hanging out with Sasuke all the time, dude," Kiba explained, shaking his head at him. "There's a whole group of yaoi fans dying to see you two get together, you know.(1)"

Naruto turned red. "Wh-what?" He was glad Sasuke hadn't made it to lunch yet, since he didn't want Sasuke to hear any of this…Sasuke didn't seem like the type of person who'd like to be told that half the school thought he was gay (or asexual, Naruto inwardly added).

"You know," Kiba waved his hands around. "There's always a bunch of people who think it's normal for two guys to get together. And everyone considers Sasuke to be the best looking guy in our class, and when you came along…"

Naruto grinned, changing the subject completely. "I bumped you down to worst looking in class?"

"Shut the hell up, I look a whole lot better than Sasu-dumbass."

"If you can't say it to his face, don't say it to me," Naruto grinned maliciously. "I'll tell him what you said."

"Yeah, okay. I don't believe you." Kiba said nonchalantly, but then he added, "Don't tell him, though, he's got that really weird glare… only Kiyohiko can make me feel worse than Sasuke does. Speaking of, I didn't know you were related to her."

"To who?"

"Kiyohiko… they only let relatives in your room until you woke up, you know."

"I'm not related to Kaida!" Naruto complained loudly. "Suzuka and Iruka are best friends, that's all."

"You sure? She practically warped out of the ceremony when it ended, you know…" Kiba frowned. "Dude, seriously? You must have done something really, really bad in your old school to get people all worked up like this."

"Can we drop it?" Naruto finished his ramen. "Where's Sasu-bastard anyway? He should be here by now."

"Dunno." Kiba looked over his shoulder to Hinata's table and grinned. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah," Naruto watched Kiba saunter over to Hinata and frowned to himself. _Wait, does that mean everyone thinks I'm gay too?_ He thought. _What am I, anyway? I like everybody._ He shook his head and decided he'd just explore that later. He threw out his ramen cup and decided to go to the bathroom, then maybe ask Sakura if she knew where Sasuke was.

The only boys bathroom on the first floor was locked. And that wouldn't have been weird if the bathroom was out of order, but Naruto knew for sure that the bathroom was absolutely fine, and he really needed to go. Plus, he didn't want to use the bathroom upstairs; it was kinda gross since some kid had been throwing up in there all morning.

"Hey!" He yelled at the door. "Open up!" No one answered, and Naruto growled to himself before kicking the door mercilessly until the door opened.

Sasuke poked his head out and stared at him, looking very annoyed. "Go away." He said, trying to close the door. He also fixed Naruto with his own version of a death stare, but after dealing with Kaida, those sorts of things just rolled off Naruto. Naruto pushed his foot into the way of the door and slipped into the bathroom.

"You can't just hole up in a bathroom by…" Naruto started, when he noticed three very odd things. One, Sasuke wasn't wearing a shirt, which Naruto had to admit he'd never seen before. Two, Sasuke was bleeding everywhere, or maybe he was bleeding everywhere _before_, because now his body was covered in dried blood. And three, there were bloody bandages all over the floor. Naruto pushed the door closed and watched Sasuke lock it with a set of lock picks. "Sasuke…" He murmured. He blushed, Sasuke wasn't really making anymore efforts to cover himself up… and Sasuke _did_ have a really nice body… _Will you stop thinking about weird things?_ Naruto snapped at himself, _The boy is bleeding!_

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke muttered, picking up a first aid kit from on the floor. Naruto took it away from him, glaring at Sasuke, who glared right back. Naruto ended up looking at Sasuke's body _again_ (he was seriously doubting his own self control at this point), dragging his eyes over purpling bruises and gaping cuts. Other than the cuts, Sasuke seemed relatively healthy…and strong, in a weird, girly way. Naruto hungrily eyed Sasuke's neck, which had never looked better than it was now, even though Naruto saw it pretty much everyday. _Okay_, Naruto cut himself off, _cold shower, cold shower_, _No more thinking about Sasu-bastard like that… let's see. There are one hundred tiles on the floor…And sixty-sixty spots on this tile, and seventy-three spots on that one…_

"What happened to you? Why are you bleeding so much? Tell me," Naruto ordered when he finally calmed himself down. Sasuke frowned at him and put out his hand for the first aid kit, which Naruto absolutely refused to give up.

"It's not important." Sasuke said, moving closer so he could get the first aid kit.

"It is so! You're _bleeding_ to death! Sit down," Naruto commanded, and of course Sasuke didn't listen, so Naruto had to gently yet forcefully push Sasuke to the floor. "I'll clean up this stuff, you tell me what happened." Sasuke didn't tell him anything, but he let Naruto clean his wounds without so much as a squeak. Naruto didn't want to openly admit it, but he liked taking care of Sasuke. It felt really good that Sasuke would even trust him enough to let Naruto apply bandages for him. Never mind that Sasuke felt really good… _Stop being gross!_ Naruto yelled at himself. _Okay, so he has really girly soft skin, so what?_ He flushed and hoped Sasuke didn't see it, wrapping the last cut on Sasuke's torso. "…Why don't you want to tell me?" Naruto asked, quietly, looking at his feet. "Do you hate me?"

Sasuke didn't respond for a long time, so Naruto counted the bloody bandages and all the flecks of blood on the floor. He remembered talking to Sai about when he was younger and tried not to think about how fast Sasuke's heart was beating (or his, for that matter, but he didn't know who's heart he was hearing pounding in his head), closing his eyes and squeezing his hands until his own blood mingled with Sasuke's on the bathroom floor. Sasuke finally responded, "No, I don't hate you."

"Then tell me!" Naruto begged. "Or tell someone, Sasuke, even if it isn't me. You're seriously hurt! Did you see how big those cuts are? Don't you know… don't you know that you could die, Sasuke…?"

"I'm fine." Sasuke muttered, trying to stand up. Naruto pulled him back down, his eyes wide with worry.

"Was it my fault? When I hugged you the other day, it hurt, didn't it? I'm sorry, Sasuke… I didn't mean to… I didn't know…"

"I said I'm fine," Sasuke grumbled, tugging his arm away from Naruto. "I have to clean everything up."

"…Sasuke…" Naruto murmured forlornly. "I just want to help."

Sasuke didn't respond. He cleaned up the blood and the bandages, and when he noticed Naruto's hands were bleeding also, he cleaned the little cuts and traced over some of the older scars that had come about by Naruto squeezing his fists so much. "Stop doing that," He told Naruto.

Naruto let Sasuke put a couple band-aids on his small cuts and helped mop up the blood on the floor with paper towel and flushed the blood covered sheets down the toilet. Then Sasuke changed into all clean clothes in a stall, and Naruto used the bathroom, and the two walked out of the bathroom together, quietly.

* * *

(1)- that's right... that group of yaoi fans? It's YOU. 


	20. In Which We Make A Scene

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:**_eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** I average like, seven pages every time I write. Is that weird or what? The word count is like, 2000 too. Okay, whatever. In other news, thank you all for your reviews! I was very happy with all of them. :D And I'm happy people like my writing style!

I have a little free time today, so I holed up in the computer lab at school and edited this chapter. I don't normally edit things, so I warn you that it may suck. This said, enjoy!

If you want to help me with my sociology project, then send me a PM with the response to this question: Does body art (tattoos, earrings, etc.) contribute to the stability or the destruction of society to you? Meaning, do you think that body art is a good thing or a bad thing? You don't have to answer, by the way. :3 No pressure, right?

Ergh, I just reread this and it's like my head is all over the place. Anyway, yeah, I'm done rambling. My head hurts. D':

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **W**e **M**ake **A** **S**cene **A**nd **A****C**ake

The next day, Naruto dragged Sasuke out of homeroom (amid yells from said un-social boy) and into the bathroom, much to the surprise of the girls who crowded Sasuke's desk every morning.

"How is it? Are you alright?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"Get off of me, dobe! _Why_ do you always have to make a scene?" Sasuke hissed, jerking his arm out of Naruto's grip. Naruto scowled.

"Me, make a scene, Sasu-bastard?! You were the one yelling, weren't you? Jeez… just take it off."

"Take it off?" Sasuke looked mortified, his voice rising. "What are you talking about? I'm not taking it off… this is a school bathroom!" Then he widened his eyes in shock and bent down to check under the stalls. Naruto did too. Satisfied that no one was there, Naruto turned back to Sasuke.

"You did yesterday, didn't you? Take it off!" Naruto tugged on Sasuke's shirt.

"Firstly, get the hell off." Sasuke pushed Naruto away. "Secondly, yesterday was a mistake, I shouldn't have let you…never mind. Just go away."

Naruto scowled at him and snarled, "Take off your shirt or I'll do it for you!" Sasuke moved out of the way, hurrying towards the door. Naruto followed, determined to see if Sasuke's wounds were getting better. Sasuke flung open the door and then slammed it shut again, his face pink. Naruto stared at him. "What's wrong now?" He asked, exasperatedly.

Sasuke advanced on him. "Naruto…" He murmured, and suddenly Naruto was very, very afraid.

"Listen, Sasuke… I don't know what's outside the door, but uh… let's uhm… let's just enjoy ourselves in here before it— or you— kills us— or.. uh, me." Naruto backed into a wall and started inching towards the stalls.

"I'm going to kill you." Sasuke said sweetly. "I'm going to get a rope and hang you in the tree in my backyard." He smiled slightly, eerily. "I'm going to put your head on a pike." Naruto wasn't sure how much of the babble Sasuke was spouting was the truth or not (but secretly, he kind of hoped that Sasuke was bluffing).

"Calm down, Sasuke…" Naruto held up his hands. "Oh I know, how about I tell you a joke, you like those, right? A bear and a rabbit" His back hit a corner and he cursed. "Fuck." He held up his hands innocently as Sasuke continued to advance on him. "Okay, listen, I'll make you a deal! I'll…I'll do whatever you want! Sasuke, are you listening to me? Sasuke!"

The door opened, to Naruto's relief. Kiba stared at Naruto and the still very pissed Sasuke. "Uh… dude." Kiba said, finally. "I'm just going to go."

"Take me with you!" Naruto cried, and Sasuke put a hand on Naruto's chest and pushed him back, then turned and stalked out of the bathroom. Kiba blinked as Sasuke passed him and looked at Naruto.

"That… was awkward." Kiba murmured. "So that's why all those girls were outside the bathroom."

Naruto flushed. "There… there are people out there?"

"Yeah, the Sasuke fangirls are out there. What the hell happened in here?"

"Kiba… you saved me from a quick and painful death." Naruto said, patting his shoulder. "Now please protect me for the rest of the day! Sasuke won't kill me if you're there."

"Yeah, first he'll kill me, then he'll kill you. What happened?"

"Can… Can I tell you at lunch?"

Kiba only shook his head and left, claiming he could hold it in for another period, when he wasn't so completely mortified.

* * *

Cooking class was, sadly, a failure. Today they were making strawberry shortcake. And Sakura was absent, so it was just Sasuke and Naruto, and so… very awkward.

"Dobe." Sasuke said tersely.

"Teme." Naruto replied, smiling at the dark eyed boy who glowered at him.

"One third cup of sugar." Sasuke muttered. "And one third cup of soft flour, and a tablespoon of unsalted butter. Now." Sasuke went to their refrigerator and took out two eggs.

"Right away!" Naruto hurried around, making a huge mess.

"Be neater," Sasuke scolded, cleaning up the spilled sugar and flour and scowling at the smashed butter on the floor. Naruto nervously chuckled.

"I'll try harder…" He murmured. _Jeez, what a neat freak._

Sasuke didn't even look at the instructions on the sheet they were given. He went over to the wax paper and started doing something with it and the cake pan, so Naruto busied himself with counting all the red things in the room. There were a lot of strawberries around, and Naruto had almost reached one hundred when Sasuke snapped at him. "Don't just stand there, dobe! Preheat the oven and put some warm water in a bowl!"

"Huh?"

"Go," Sasuke pointed to the oven. "The oven should be one hundred sixty degrees Celsius."

Naruto grinned at Sasuke widely. "Do you know how many degrees Fahrenheit that is?" he asked, and Sasuke glared at him. "That's right," Naruto crowed, "Three hundred twenty degrees!"

"Shut up and do it, dobe." Sasuke muttered, and Naruto stuck out his tongue at him and turned to the oven. When Naruto turned around to face Sasuke, Sasuke held out the butter. "Microwave this."

"Why? It's butter."

"Put it in a bowl and microwave it," Sasuke ordered. "for one or two minutes."

"Are you sure? Do the directions say"

"I'm giving the directions, now do what I tell you!" Sasuke grumbled exasperatedly.

"Jeez, I was only asking…" Naruto muttered, going over to their microwave. "Hey, Sasu-bastard! Isn't it weird how we have this class after lunch?" He set the microwave for a minute and a half (gleefully Naruto said to himself "ninety seconds total").

"It's so that morons like you learn to appreciate cooking." Sasuke said over his shoulder. "Fill up a bowl with warm water now."

"What temperature should it be?" Naruto sauntered over to a cabinet and grabbed a bowl, and then hurried to the sink.

"I don't know. Thirty degrees Celsius?"

"That's eighty six degrees Fahrenheit!" Naruto grinned, turning on the water.

"Does it even matter?"

"No, but I like converting numbers. It's fun."

Sasuke didn't respond, but the microwave dinged and Naruto set the bowl of warm water (though probably not thirty degrees Celsius) down next to Sasuke and went to get the melted butter. He heard the mixer go on and sighed to himself. _Why does Sasuke have to be so good at everything?_

"Here," Naruto set the bowl down. "Now what?"

"Now we're going to sift the flour." Naruto looked at Sasuke and then down at the bowl warily. Sasuke had placed the mixture inside a bowl, and that bowl was floating around in the warm water.

"Is… this what we're supposed to do?"

"I told you I'm giving the directions." Sasuke snapped. "Now hold this."

"What is this? A sifter?"

"Whatever."

They sifted the soft flour into the mixture and then added the melted butter and mixed the ingredients, then poured the mixture into the cake pan and put that into the oven.

"That's it?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"No. We need whipped cream, a tablespoon of sugar, and strawberries."

Naruto went over that list in his head. _Whipped cream and strawberries…_ He looked at Sasuke. _What if…_ He thought, staring wantonly at Sasuke. _How would Sasuke look if I covered him in whipped cream and—__What the hell am I imagining?_ He thought, sighing. _Damn imagination. Why can't I think normal stuff…?_

"Naruto!" Sasuke shook Naruto by the shoulders.

"Huh, what?" Naruto smiled at Sasuke. "What happened?"

"You spaced. I got everything already…" Sasuke looked at him curiously. "Your face is red," he smirked.

"…shut up, teme!"

"Dump out that warm water and put ice water in that bowl." Sasuke ordered. Naruto scowled, but obediently went about his job, all the while thinking naughty thoughts.

_Well maybe Sasuke wouldn't look any good covered in whipped cream. It's like same color as his freaking skin. I'd look good covered in whipped cream,_ Naruto smirked as he dumped out the warm water. _I bet Sasu-bastard would think so too._ He filled the bowl with cold water and then added some ice cubes to the water.

"Good." Sasuke said, and he handed Naruto some strawberries. "Wash these, and get rid of the stems. Then cut them in half." Then the onyx eyed boy took the ice water bowl and went to another counter, where he started working.

"Why dya gotta boss me around so much…" Naruto muttered, washing the strawberries and going back to his thoughts. _Why the hell do I think about these things anyway? I'm so gross._ He frowned at the strawberries and put them down on the counter, slicing them in half quickly. He noticed that there were more strawberries on the table. _Should I steal one? Knowing Sasu-bastard, he knows how many strawberries are on the table, but…_

Naruto quickly swiped a strawberry and washed, and was about to pop it into his mouth when Sasuke said, "Give me the strawberries, dobe."

_Damn, that was scary_. Naruto though, biting down on the strawberry he was going to eat and bringing the other strawberries to Sasuke, who looked at Naruto quizzically.

"I didn't say you could eat them." He murmured, rolling his eyes at Naruto. Naruto was going to respond, but Sasuke just pushed the rest of the strawberry into Naruto's mouth and went back to the cake— which, Naruto noticed, was neatly sliced in half horizontally. When had Sasuke taken it out of the oven? Must have been while he was day dreaming…

Sasuke worked fast. It was weird to see him do such weird, girly things so quickly, but Sasuke spread the whipped cream and sugar mixture he had created onto one side of the cake, spread the strawberries out on the mixture, covered the strawberries with the whipped cream and sugar, and put the other half of the cake on top. Then he frosted the whole thing with the whipped cream and sugar. "Wash the strawberries on the table and take off their stems," Sasuke murmured to Naruto, who turned and did as he was asked (this time without any dirty thoughts).

When he returned, Sasuke had already started decorating the cake. "How come you're so good at this?" Naruto asked, as Sasuke plopped some strawberries on the top of the cake.

"Because." Sasuke muttered, glaring at Naruto.

"What did I do this time? Are you angry at me, teme?"

"When am I not angry at you?"

"You weren't angry at me when you caught me people watching you…" Naruto said thoughtfully.

"I was in a good mood."

"You're never in a good mood." Naruto pointed out. "And you were really nice to Sakura then too. Why is that? You're not nice to her in class. You ignore her all the time. So why is that?"

"None of your business." Sasuke muttered.

"You're not in a good mood right now," Naruto scowled. "Can I have some cake?"

"No, we'd lose points." Sasuke pushed Naruto into a seat. "Presentation is half the grade, you idiot. Remember?"

Naruto sighed. "But it looks good!"

"Whatever."

"Normally people would say 'thank you', you bastard. How many friends do you have again? I think I can count them on my fingers." Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto and sat down across from him.

"Wash the bowls and the cake pan."

"What? Why me? I did all the work!" Sasuke gave him a look that read _you wanna bet?_ so Naruto sighed. "Fine. But I better get a big piece of cake."

"Whatever."

"Is that your new favorite word?" Naruto asked, getting up and picking up the cluttered bowls. "Strawberry shortcake is my favorite cake," Naruto babbled, "Iruka used to buy me a slice after I got a really good test score at this coffee shop… It was always really good. But we had to go out of town to get it…" Naruto paused. "I'd always have strawberry shortcake and milk and Iruka would have a cookie and coffee, and I'd take a sip of the coffee when he wasn't looking and it was always nasty. Iruka drinks his coffee black, isn't that gross? Coffee is so bitter, it needs like tons of sugar to taste good. I hate regular coffee. I don't even like French vanilla all that much. Do you? I guess you might, you like coffee."

"Dobe, you're ranting."

"Huh?"

Sasuke chuckled— which Naruto still wasn't used to— "Never mind."

"Whatever. Anyway," Naruto continued to rant until Shizune came around and graded them. Then Sasuke finally allowed Naruto to cut a piece of strawberry shortcake. Naruto was about to cut Sasuke a piece, but Sasuke prevented him from doing so.

"I'm not a slob like you," Sasuke told Naruto, "and I don't need to eat that much." He took a little piece. Naruto made a face at Sasuke and finished his piece in about five wolfish bites, then downed a glass of milk.

"I'm not a slob anyway," Naruto murmured, as Sasuke slowly ate his cake. "And besides, Chouji says that to show your appreciation for food, you don't always have to eat it slow."

"Yeah, if it's soup you eat it faster." Sasuke pointed out. "So that it doesn't get cold. Wipe your mouth, dobe."

Naruto wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and Sasuke sighed. "Before you say anything, I do so have manners," Naruto rolled his eyes. "I just choose to ignore them."

"I couldn't've have guessed." Sasuke said dryly. Naruto made a face at him.

"Uh… about this morning?" Naruto asked, quickly.

"What?" Sasuke glowered at him.

"I'mreallysorryandpleasedon'thurtmewhenareyoucomingoverbythewayIhopeitisn'ttodaybecauseyoureallylookedlikeyouweregoingtokillme."

"…" Sasuke blinked. "Naruto." He said, putting his fork down.

"Wh-what?" Naruto blinked.

"I'm coming over tomorrow. And if you ever pull another stunt like this morning's, I won't hesitate to kill you. Okay?"

"You're just kidding, right, Sasuke? About the killing thing?" The onyx eyed boy picked up his fork and smirked. "Sasuke?"


	21. In Which There Was A Dream

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:**_eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N: **If you did my one question survey, thank you very much! In truth XD I was lying about doing my paper on body art. Actually it's about staying focused. Most people don't follow the directions when they have more than one question. Some people don't even follow the directions when they get one question! Alas, there have been none who have been that amazingly strange on this site, so kudos, you can officially follow directions! Of course, I pretended it was about body art, but you can forgive me for that. And you _will_, because I wrote _this chapter_. This chapter does sort of piss me off, but I think you'll like it. You better like it! XD Okay, threats over.

Sadly, after this chapter I'll be working full force on my research paper and probably won't update for a very long time. D : That, and I don't have my desktop with me, thus this is the last chapter on my flash drive and soooo... yes, it's probably the last I'll be updating for a while. Unless my sister can access my locked computer. XD

And so I would like to think those people who reviewed, for you are amazing. And kudos to those people who read all 20 chapters in one sitting!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **T**here** I**s **A** **D**ream

Naruto couldn't sleep. Because when he tried to sleep, stupid bad stupid thoughts came to mind. The kind of stupid bad stupid thoughts that made Naruto really wary about sleeping because then he'd have stupid bad stupid dreams. Which he wasn't really fond of. For example, once he dreamed he was a ninja, and that Gaara was a ninja too, with this monster that lived inside of him and kept him from sleeping. It was really weird. That's why Naruto had stopped reading Shouta, which was a manga about this ninja boy who lived in a village where all the people despised him because he had a demon in him and his adventures with his friends.

Tonight's thoughts rested on Sasuke. The problem was that ever since Naruto had hugged him and then run into him with all those bruises, all he could think about was seeing Sasuke naked. Which was stupid. And bad. But mostly stupid.

It was stupid because… well, to start out with, Naruto had only wanted to befriend Sasuke at first because he was so afraid that Sasuke would end up like Gaara: diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder. He didn't want anyone else to be hated simply because they didn't like to talk. And then they'd finally, wordlessly become friends, because Sasuke tolerated him and no one else, really, and _now _here Naruto was contemplating covering himself in whipped cream or seeing Sasuke naked. Damn you, brain!

And Naruto wasn't gay, which was the problem. Well, maybe he was _Sasuke_-gay, but Sasuke looked like a fucking girl. He looked like he could just randomly grow boobs and everyone would cheer and say "Look, puberty finally hit Sasuke!" And he acted like every once a month he had some serious problem going on— Naruto snorted at this thought, mostly because Sasuke was in a constant PMS mode— and he waggled his hips when he walked and his legs were long and

Naruto just needed to stop thinking about it. So he counted.

He'd already memorized the amount of things in his room, so he quietly crawled out of bed and tiptoed into Iruka's room, where said man was fast asleep. After all, it was like, 11:50.

Iruka always had millions upon millions of things to count. For example, Iruka collected knick-knacks, and Naruto liked counting how many bobbleheads or toy rings or mini statues Iruka had, because the number always changed. And, Naruto liked counting the repeating pattern on most of Iruka's bed sheets (Naruto always got only plain bedsheets, because Iruka didn't like when Naruto stayed up late counting things). Naruto especially liked counting how many times Iruka breathed, because that was relaxing.

But tonight… he felt like waking Iruka up. So he did.

"…uh… N'ruto…" Iruka rubbed his eyes. "Did you have a…" He yawned, "Bad dream?"

Naruto shook his head and sat on the bed next to Iruka. "My head's sorta spinning. I can't sleep."

"You're thinking too much?" Iruka asked sleepily. Naruto nodded. "What are you thinking about?"

"Uh…" Naruto frowned. He couldn't see a reason to lie to Iruka right now, and he felt guilty that he'd been lying to Iruka recently anyway. So he told the truth. "A friend of mine."

"What about your friend?"

"…well… he's…" Naruto frowned deeper trying to make sense of his feelings. "He's…"

Iruka seemed fully awake now. "You can tell me, Naruto."

"I don't know. I can't understand it." Naruto pouted. "We're really good friends. Maybe best friends… you know? But…" Naruto sighed. "It's just…"

Iruka pulled Naruto into an embrace that made Naruto feel like he was six again. "It's just that you want something different from the relationship." He said, ruffling Naruto's hair fondly.

"Sort of. I just have… thoughts." Naruto paused, feeling uncomfortable. "Weird ones." He finished.

"And I'm going to assume you don't want to talk to me about them?"

"Hell no I don't— I mean, uh… yeah, I don't want to talk about it. Them."

Iruka gave him a look, but continued, "And you don't want to tell him?"

"No way. Never in a million years. You have no idea what he's like… he's so _WEIRD_. If I told him, he might kill me. Or worse." Naruto squirmed and frowned deeply again. "If I don't tell him, it'll be better."

"What if he shares your feelings but doesn't know how to say it?"

"Yeah right." Naruto muttered. "He's not like that. He gets what he wants. If he wanted me like that, he would've already…no, I don't think he's like that. Like me. And I'm not _technically_ well... you know. I'm like that...just… for him." He flushed and picked at the sheets.

Iruka smiled. "Naruto," he said gently, "Maybe you don't know your friend as well as you think you do? Maybe you should ask him what he feels about your relationship now."

"We're guys," Naruto complained. "We're not _supposed _to talk about feelings, are we? We're supposed to punch each other and ogle girls and… this isn't supposed to happen."

"Naruto, life isn't scripted, you know." Iruka pointed out. "You have to work with what's tossed at you; you can't look back and wish for things not to happen."

"What if he doesn't like me? What if he really doesn't like me afterwards? I don't want him to hate me."

"You should take a few days and think about how to approach him. You can do it, I know you can." Iruka looked at his clock. "You should try to get a little sleep. We'll talk tomorrow, if you want."

"No!" Naruto was mortified. "Not tomorrow. Sasuke is coming over tomorrow; I don't want to talk it over tomorrow."

"Who's Sasuke?" Iruka asked.

"He a friend of mine." Naruto said, hoping he was wearing a straight face. "I kinda randomly asked if he'd come over…Sorry I didn't ask first."

"That's alright. Is Sasuke…" Iruka looked Naruto in the eye and Naruto blushed heavily.

"I'm going to bed," he muttered, and Iruka laughed.

"Good night, Naruto."

"Night, Iruka."

* * *

_It was hot. Stifling hot. In more ways than one. Firstly, the temperature was so high in the room… or was that just Naruto? And then there was Sasuke. Chained. To Naruto's bed. With strawberries and whipped cream. He looked at Naruto with lusty black eyes, licking his lips that were so perfect and small and… pink. Oh dear god, why did Sasuke look like he was the topping on strawberry shortcake? Naruto chewed on his own lip nervously, and Sasuke chuckled, and oh god in heaven that was so sexy. So sexy, so good._

"_Well?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto looked him over once, twice, and then breathed:_

"_I want to eat you…"_

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Naruto-kun," he purred, and Naruto gulped and inched closer to him. "I __**want**__ you to eat me." There was that hollow in Sasuke's neck again… Oh god, Naruto wanted to bite it, to kiss it, to lick it…just to taste it. So he moved closer. So close that he could feel Sasuke's breath on his skin, and it was cold compared to all the heat and Naruto leaned down and caught Sasuke's lips and god help him, it was so perfect, so fucking perfect. Sasuke tasted so good, so good…_

_And then Naruto pulled back and watched Sasuke's little tongue run across his bottom lip oh-so-slowly, and all of a sudden he needed to taste again, deeper this time. So he crashed down on Sasuke and pushed past the little pink tongue and the lips and…_

_**Yes**__, that was what he wanted… Sasuke responded and their kiss grew sloppy and how did Sasuke know how to turn Naruto on so well? Naruto trailed hot kisses down Sasuke's neck, and the little hollow at the base of Sasuke's neck was all his finally…_

_He leaned in and bit down and— yes, yes, fucking __**yes**__— Sasuke moaned a little happy moan and Naruto loved it, like a fine tuned violin, oh god oh god oh god don't let it end now…_

"_Naruto…" Sasuke moaned huskily, and Naruto continued his ministrations of Sasuke's neck and the dark eyed boy writhed and oh heaven itself, the __**friction**__, the delicious friction… Naruto moaned and placed an open-mouthed kiss on Sasuke's shoulder._

_Sasuke arched, held down by his chains, and Naruto felt the cold of the whipped cream and the heat of his body and he ached, his groin ached so much— he needed Sasuke, oh he __**needed**__ him so bad right now, but…_

_Sasuke rolled his hips against Naruto's and whispered nasty little nothings, how bad he wanted Naruto in him, how good Naruto would feel in him, how much he needed Naruto to just fuck him because god damn it, why did they need a reason? And yes, yes, __**yes**__ he was Naruto's little slut and all Naruto's for the taking… And Naruto moaned and licked up the whipped cream on Sasuke's chest which had a spicy sort of tangy taste to it that reminded Naruto of what his real snack was… and hungrily he gazed down at Sasuke who moaned wantonly because Naruto wanted him so fucking __**bad**_

_And so he had to go lower, because that was where the real treat lay, and Sasuke made little noises when Naruto ran his hands down that pale body flushed pink, and his bellybutton was so perfect and oh sweet Jesus Sasuke was big down __**there**__…_

"_Naruto…" Sasuke panted. "__**Naruto**__…"_

"_How bad do you want it?" Naruto wondered aloud, and Sasuke bucked and pleaded for Naruto to just __**touch**__ him, just touch him and god don't ever stop touching him, just make it feel good, because he wanted it so good that it was sinful._

_Naruto couldn't say no to Sasuke… not when he panted and bucked and moaned and made that cute face when he bit his lip to keep from letting out a shaky moan when Naruto leaned closer and opened his mouth and was poised to swallow Sasuke whole and_

He woke up.

There was a sticky mess all over his boxers and bed. And it was…

Because of Sasuke…

"What was I thinking?" Naruto whined, grabbing his head and pulling his hair. "Sasuke can't come over, noooo…"

What if Sasuke came into his room and just knew that Naruto had just dreamed… oh god, what if he knew what he'd just dreamed? No, no…. Sasuke could never find out.

Even if he was so hot. Never, never, never. Naruto hurriedly bundled up the dirty linens and stripped out of his boxers and put on yesterday's pair and threw the sticky mess into his hamper. And then he breathed out and counted slowly backwards from one hundred.

He picked up all clean clothes and rushed to the shower.


	22. In Which Sasuke Visits

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:**_eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** Guess who's back? Alright, that wasn't really tough, but...wtf kittens to you too. Of course I thank you all dearly for your reviews! I got to check my e-mail yesterday and my fanfiction box was like, booming with mail. And I was like, "Whoa!" Well, more like, "Holy shit, that's a lot of mail," but same difference.

After being told time and time again that this story should have a second genre, I've finally decided, yes, I'll put a second genre on this... I think it might be humor, but some people told me to put drama, and the story isn't really that dramatic... So, it's up to you guys, once again! I'm just so un-decisive.

Moving right along, enjoy this chapter, and to whomever sent me the review about how much I like development: 3 Damn straight!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **S**asuke **V**isits

Gaara met Naruto and Sasuke at the bus stop (mostly because he met Naruto at the bus stop everyday, to stop Naruto from whining) and the trio walked to Naruto's house, Naruto babbling the whole way about how school was. Mostly he was trying to keep his thoughts about Sasuke from surfacing, which was becoming harder and harder, since Sasuke was walking with him and sometimes Naruto would look over and think about his dream. Gaara, who Naruto was going to confide in later, barely spoke (which was absolutely normal) but nodded at random intervals when Naruto was explaining things.

"Right?" He turned to Sasuke for appraise, and the dark eyed sophomore blinked at him.

"Honestly I haven't been listening since you started talking," Sasuke admitted with a smirk. Naruto scowled.

"Damn pretty boy." Naruto snorted. "Don't you think Sasuke looks a lot like a girl, Gaara?" Gaara looked at Naruto, then at Sasuke, then back at Naruto. He said nothing, but Naruto grinned. "Exactly!"

Sasuke scowled at him. "Shut up." He muttered, and Naruto slung his arm over Gaara's shoulders. Immediately, Naruto wondered whether that was the best choice of words, but then ignored it. _He's a guy, and he probably doesn't like me, so I'm allowed to make fun of him._ Naruto decided.

"Why?" He asked playfully. "Are you mad because Gaara thinks you're girly too?" Sasuke glowered and looked away. "S'okay, teme, I like you even though you're kinda girl-looking." The trio stopped in front of Naruto's house.

"Hn." Sasuke said. Naruto smirked to himself and Gaara shoved Naruto's arm off of his person.

"Are you going home, Gaara?" Naruto asked, and the red headed boy turned, nodded, and shuffled off. "Okay, but tomorrow let's go to Ichiraku's!" Naruto called after him. Gaara paused for a half second, then nodded and kept going until he was out of sight. "Well, this is my house. Gaara lives a little further down."

Sasuke stared at Naruto's house, his eyes scrutinizing every aspect of the little place. Naruto felt a little nervous. _Calm down…_ he thought to himself. _It doesn't matter if Sasu-bastard likes my house or not. Uh…I think._

Sasuke sighed loudly. "Well, it's okay looking, can we go in, or do you normally stand out here and stare at your house?"

Naruto flushed. "Shut up, teme!" He muttered, picking up the mail and then fumbling in his pockets for his keys. The two entered the house finally, and Naruto dropped his things in a pile by the door. Sasuke sighed laboriously and neatly hung his jacket up and put his messenger bag down underneath it. He even cleaned up Naruto's mess before disdainfully glaring at Naruto.

Naruto scowled, "You don't have to be all neat, Sasu-bastard, you can just toss your stuff down if you want."

"Yeah, but I'm not lazy." Sasuke returned, taking off his shoes and pushing them over to the wall. Naruto sighed and followed suit, and then led Sasuke into the kitchen, since he was going nowhere near his room with Sasuke.

"This is the kitchen, and that was the living room, and the bathroom is through there," Naruto pointed as he showed Sasuke around, "And that leads to the backyard, but I don't go back there much. There's just an old swing set out there."

Sasuke sighed. "Can we go to your room?" He asked, sounding bored. Naruto balked.

_Did I change my sheets? Yes… I think I did the laundry this morning, just in case… Argh, I don't want to go up there…_ "Yeah, whatever," was his nonchalant response. However, first he dropped the mail on the table and picked up a note from Iruka.

_Naruto—_

_I'll be back early to meet your friend. Invite him stay for dinner, okay?_

_-Iruka_

Naruto groaned, and Sasuke deftly picked the note out of Naruto's hands. "I'll stay." Sasuke said, after looking over the note. Naruto muttered under his breath about how embarrassing Iruka could be sometimes, but Sasuke seemed to be ignoring him, going into the living room. Naruto couldn't help but longingly watch Sasuke go, then pinched himself in the arm and repeated the mantra _I will not ogle my friends, I will not ogle my friends_ fifteen times. He finally gained some composure and lead Sasuke to his room.

"…A blue Alienware desktop?" Sasuke said, questioningly. "And blue walls too? I though your room would be all orange, dobe."

Naruto grinned. "It would've been, but Iruka said he wanted to walk into my room without being blinded. So it's not." He looked over at his computer. "You like Alienware?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I have a newer model." He said, and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Doesn't matter how new your model is, my desktop is so much cooler than yours. I don't have a lot of games, though." Naruto pointed to his anime collection on his bookshelf. "I have anime though. And some music," he motioned to a lower shelf.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Is that… what I think it is?" He pointed at a CD and Naruto crossed his arms defiantly.

"Yes it's Mariah Carey!" He muttered. Sasuke smirked, and Naruto scowled. "What, you don't like her?"

"You do?"

"I hate you, teme." Naruto grumbled. "'Sides, I bet you didn't even listen to that album. The Emancipation of Mimi is really good."

Sasuke shrugged, going over and rifling through the CDs. "I like Gackt." He said, tossing a CD at Naruto. It was Moon, which was the only Gackt album Naruto could buy ever since a bunch of girls stormed FYE for Crescent, which was the CD Naruto originally wanted.

"Then what do you think about Malice Mizer?" Naruto asked.

"It's alright."

"What?" Naruto went over to his computer and turned it on. "Malice Mizer is the greatest! Okay, Moi Dix Mois comes in a close second, but come on!"

"Moi Dix Mois?" Sasuke asked, turning to face Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah. Do you mind if I play Lu:na? That's my favorite song on this CD." Sasuke shrugged. "You've never heard Moi Dix Mois? You're missing out. I think I have Nocturnal Opera on the shelf, that's their album. It's really good. Pessimiste is my favorite song… that's why I decided to take French." He loaded the Gackt CD and immediately turned to Lu:na.

"It's a Japanese band, dobe."

"So what?"

"What genre?" Sasuke asked, mildly.

"Rock, metal. Who cares, they're good." Naruto sat down on his bed and watched Sasuke rifle through the rest of his CDs. Well, okay, he watched Sasuke _bend over_ to rifle through his CDs. Then he blushed terribly and mentally counted the amount of times he counted the items in his room. "What do you listen to, Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave Naruto a sinister grin over his shoulder. "Rap." He said, and Naruto stared at him, then burst out laughing.

"Seriously?" Naruto asked, grinning wildly. "Who do you like? Nas? Jay-Z? I know you can't like 50 Cent."

Sasuke just grinned and turned back to Naruto's CDs. "You don't have any of my favorite artists, though."

"Like?"

"Like Dr. Dre."

Naruto could help it. He rolled around on his bed laughing. "You mean…" He cried, "You mean the same guy who wrote The Next Episode?"

Sasuke turned and smirked. "What's so funny, dobe?"

Naruto gasped for breath. "I just… I just can't imagine…" He snorted and started laughing again. "…you rapping… to Dr. Dre's music!" He burst out into laughter again.

Sasuke waited for Naruto to stop laughing, then went into a perfect rendition of Nate Dogg, rapping perfectly, "Take a, seat, Hope you ready for the next episode—Hey...  
... smoke weed everyday!"

Naruto roared with laughter again and rubbed at the tears in his eyes. "Y-You were serious!" He shrieked, and Sasuke smugly smirked and sat down on Naruto's bed.

"Of course I was serious," He said, and Naruto sat up, still chuckling.

"Okay, okay," Naruto grinned, "So what else do you like?"

Sasuke looked thoughtful, then grinned. "Busta Rhymes." He said, and Naruto grinned widely.

"Touch It, right?"

"The third remix," Sasuke agreed, and the two boys laughed.

"I like Papoose best," Naruto grinned, and then he went all the way through Papoose's part.

"Eh, Papoose is okay," Sasuke moved until his back was hitting the wall. "DMX is better, though."

"Are you kidding? Didn't you see the video? He growls like a dog!"

"So?"

"So he's scary! He's probably the kind of guy Kiba would like," Naruto moved so he was sitting next to Sasuke. "I kinda thought you'd like listening to Japanese rock or something. Or those songs where the people only talk about cutting themselves."

"I'm not that emo." Sasuke complained, and Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes at him. "Are you implying something, dobe?"

"Nothing at all, teme." Naruto smirked.

* * *

By the time Iruka had returned, Naruto had downloaded all of Eminem and T.I.'s albums, and he and Sasuke were screaming the lyrics at Naruto's neighbor through his window (the poor old lady was confused as to why the two teens were yelling "fuck you too, bitch, call the cops"(1) at her, but said nothing about it to Iruka).

"Naruto!" Iruka yelled. "Cut that out!"

"Sorry!" Naruto hoarsely responded, and he and Sasuke slumped on his bed. "Okay, that was a lot more fun than listening to Gackt."

Sasuke laughed and closed his eyes. "Yeah," He replied, sighing contentedly. Naruto looked him over, willing himself not to blush. Here Sasuke was in his room, looking perfectly content, his hair mussed up and his face pink from yelling so much. Naruto took in a quiet breath when Sasuke inadvertently licked his lips. "Can I get something to drink?" Sasuke opened his eyes and Naruto quickly averted his.

"Yeah, sure," Naruto grinned at him. "Hey, Sasuke… why aren't you this fun in school?"

Sasuke shrugged at him and propped himself on his elbows. "It'd be weird."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and silently agreed. "So what if someone asks you what your favorite music is in school?"

Sasuke grinned. "I tell them it's R&B." He said, getting up. Naruto chuckled and got up also, and then the two of them went downstairs (well, Sasuke walked like a normal person and Naruto thundered down the stairs like some sort of rhino) and into the kitchen, where Iruka was stirring something.

"You don't like soda, right?" Naruto asked Sasuke, before he stuck his head in the refrigerator. "Hi, Iruka."

"What's gotten into you, Naruto? Mrs. Ueda was practically in tears!" Iruka scolded, and Naruto looked up at his guardian and grinned.

"I'll apologize," He promised. "It was just so much fun!"

Iruka looked somewhat put off by that, but he immediately noticed Sasuke and smiled. "So you're Naruto's friend," He said, turning away from the pot on the stove. "I'm Iruka Umino."

Sasuke had already settled into his usual cold-ice-princess routine, and he gave Iruka one of his tight-lipped _I wish we'd met when you were being buried_ smiles (which every adult interpreted as _it's so nice to meet you_, Naruto noticed) and said, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"Uchiha," Iruka repeated, frowning slightly. "I've heard that name before. Oh! You're Itachi Uchiha's brother, aren't you?" Sasuke immediately nodded and grew tense. Naruto curiously watched as he poured out one of the random juices that he'd found into a glass. "Your brother's a pretty prestigious lawyer…" Iruka said, turning back to the pot. "Do you want to be a lawyer too?"

"No," Sasuke said, and Naruto handed him a glass and sat at the table. Sasuke was scowling somewhat, and Naruto realized that he really knew nothing about Sasuke's home life, but it was more than obvious that someone at home was hitting him…namely, his brother! Then another realization hit him: Sasuke had said he didn't like _juice_.

"What would you like to do?" Iruka asked, not noticing Sasuke's temperance. Naruto quickly dove in for the rescue.

"Hey, Sasuke, did I show you what Iruka gave me for Christmas? X/1999!"

Iruka looked over his shoulder and pulled a face. "No, you bought it from you to me to you."

"So in other words, he gave it to me," Naruto grinned. "Do you like X/1999? It's really interesting! C'mon, I'll show you." Sasuke didn't really have a say, since Naruto downed his drink and jumped up, beckoning for Sasuke to follow. When the pale boy had made it up the stairs, Naruto shook his head at him. "You can thank me later." Naruto said, with a sigh. Sasuke made a face. "…uh…" Naruto said, when they were safely in his room, "have…. Have they gotten any better?"

Sasuke scowled. "Drop it, dobe."

"I'm serious!" Naruto whined, blocking the entrance to his room. "I just don't like when you get hurt, and"

"You don't like when I get hurt?" Sasuke frowned. "Don't get so sentimental, dobe, I"

"You're not 'fine', so don't lie to me and say that bullshit, I don't believe it, Sasu-bastard." Naruto looked at Sasuke pointedly. Sasuke said nothing, just sniffed and looked away. "Well? Say something!"

There was a long pause where Sasuke seemed to be mustering up the inner strength to say something profound. "Fuck off, usuratonkachi." Sasuke said finally and evenly, and Naruto threw caution to the wind and pounced on Sasuke, who let out a small cry of anger, surprise, and general discomfort. The two boys rolled around and snarled at each other for about ten minutes before Naruto successfully pinned Sasuke down without sitting on Sasuke's stomach.

"Okay, you bastard, I win. Now I'm going to check those wounds, so you better cooperate, you asswipe."

"Get off." Sasuke struggled, and then he proceeded to call Naruto all sorts of names and say pretty degrading stuff about the less-than-oblivious blond who was currently thinking about what his dark haired prisoner looked like pinned underneath him.

"Stop struggling," Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes at Sasuke. "Jeez, it's not like I'm raping you." _But I did last night… is it rape if you want it too?_

Sasuke hissed, "For all I know, you could be planning to rape me right now!"

_Jeez, talk about hitting the nail right on the head…_ "Sasu-bastard, why would I ever want to rape you?"

Sasuke glowered at him and said nothing, so Naruto politely asked if he'd kindly remove his shirt (but conveniently left out asking if he could shamelessly ogle Sasuke in the process) and Sasuke finally got the upper hand in the situation and flipped himself and Naruto over.

"You fucker!" Naruto yelped. Sasuke sat triumphantly on Naruto's stomach, making it difficult for Naruto to make a comeback.

"Whore."

"Yeah, whatever," Naruto snorted, wriggling and trying to ignore his mind, which was literally begging for him to look down a _little_ further to Sasuke's nether regions. "Get off!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Stop struggling." He smirked at Naruto. "It's not like I'm raping you."

"This is molestation on all counts! I'm going to sue you!"

"I'll counter sue. And I'll win," Sasuke said, as Naruto managed to worm his way from beneath Sasuke. Actually, that was a lie, he'd only managed to move enough so that he could sit up. The two boys glowered at each other until Naruto tried to wriggle out from beneath Sasuke's hips.

Bad idea. Firstly, Naruto was pretty hard at the moment, and the movement made him let out a small moan. Secondly, he rubbed against some sensitive nerve on Sasuke, and the pale boy gave out a quiet squeak. And thirdly, Iruka opened the door.

In the words of Naruto: Fuck.

* * *

I felt like being somewhat different and not making Sasuke a typical J-pop/rock fan, but that's not really being THAT original. 

(1)- Eminem says that in Forgot About Dre. Can you tell that I listen to rap music? My favorite genre is rock, though… weird, right?


	23. In Which There Is No Answer

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings:**_eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** So here's the deal. I wrote a bunch of (really good, mind you) chapters. I THOUGHT I backed them up on a disk, but apparently, that disk? It doesn't exist. So I was, well, you know. Furious. In light of that, I'm going to have to say that Sony makes some damn amazing CDs.

I'm going to be honest, this chapter, in my mind, sucks. I had to rewrite from memory, and my memory? yeah, not so great. Damn you, reformatted computer hard drive! foiled again by stupid back up disks!

I have to thank everyone for being patient and apologize again for the world of suckiness in this chapter. -sigh- Hopefully the next chapter will be a bajillion times better! Thanks for reviewing (and favoriting) (and favoriting me, ; D) and... without further nonsense, here's my next chapter:

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **T**here **I**s **N**o **G**ood **A**nswer

Naruto groaned. It hadn't been enough that Iruka had to have "the talk" with him, _no— _Sasuke was refusing to talk to him. It had been like four days!

Naruto twiddled his pencil and groaned again when Iruka's "Why You Shouldn't Molest Other Boys In Your Room" talk came back to him. It had been a very awkward conversation.

"_It was an accident!" Naruto claimed (because that was the truth). He banged his hand on the kitchen table loudly and scowled._

_Iruka calmly sipped tea, in his psychologist mode. "That's what you say, Naruto, but I think I know what was going on, and"_

"_How could you know?!" Naruto howled. "We weren't doing anything!"_

_Iruka ignored this. "Even if you do like him, you shouldn't be so physical. What if he's uncomfortable with that?"_

"_What?!" Naruto practically shrieked._

"_You should go about things slowly, Naruto," Iruka continued. Naruto cradled his head in his hands and began to count the seconds until the end of the lecture._

"Naaaaaa-ruuuuuu-tooooo," Kiba waved his hands wildly in Naruto's face. "Violinnnnnnn boyyyyyy…."

Naruto punched Kiba's arm. "Shut up, dog breath."

"A response?! So you live!" Kiba sarcastically widened his eyes and gasped. "Your vitals were critical a couple minutes ago!"

Naruto grinned. "You're really loving that new game, huh?"

Kiba grinned back. "Trauma Center is amazing. You should seriously invest in a Wii." The two boys turned into the cafeteria. "Oh, crap, you have lessons today."

"Huh?" Naruto glanced at his schedule. "Oh god no."

"What is it this time?" Kiba asked.

"That means I'll have to be with Sasu-bastard all lunch!!"

Kiba nodded slowly. "Yes… but we established that a _very_ long time ago, and you were fine with it then. What's the matter, did his bastardly bastardness finally catch up to you?" He grinned when Naruto scowled.

"You think you're hilarious, don't you?"

"In one way or another."

Naruto hurried to get his lunch (he decided that he wasn't going to get anything that was prone to spill and make a mess this time), kicked Kiba good-bye (amid shouts of "What the freaking hell, Naruto, you made me spill my fucking soup, you jackass!") and cackled his way out of the cafeteria, with or without minor bruises.

He bounced down the hall to Kakashi's office, surprised that he hadn't run into Sasuke yet. Then again, Sasuke seemed to be avoiding him anyway… or at least ignoring him. _Stupid dumbass fucker asshole._ Naruto thought. _That wasn't my fault anyway! If he'd just been nice and let me check the wounds, we would've been fine. And come to think of it, why the hell did Iruka walk in anyway?_

"Dobe." Naruto nearly jumped a foot. "Can you stop standing around like an idiot and go inside?" Naruto whirled around.

"Sweet. Just the bastard I was looking for," Naruto grinned. Sasuke just stared at him. "So I was thinking"

Sasuke smirked. "Really."

"Yeah I was thinking… Hey, what the hell!" Naruto complained. "I'm capable of thinking!"

"I didn't even know you were capable of using the word capable."

"Want me to shove a freaking glacier up your ass, Sasu-bastard?" Naruto asked sweetly.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Sasuke retorted immediately. "Now move."

Naruto moved so Sasuke could pass, but didn't pass up his chance to successfully trip Sasuke, who fell flat on his face. Naruto laughed hysterically until a dark whirlwind practically beat him to a pulp.

* * *

Ignoring Naruto's many bruises, Kakashi gave the two boys work to do while he 'took phone calls', which was Kakashi language for 'read porn' (Naruto had spent decided most, if not all, of his time in band deciphering Kakashi-speak; just about everything translated to 'read porn'). Sasuke and Naruto were supposed to be composing a song, much like Shikamaru had.

"So," Naruto said, as he scribbled on his ledger paper, "are you going to come over tomorrow?"

Sasuke looked at him. "Why?"

"Because I asked, fool!"

Sasuke gave him a despairing look. "I'm not coming over."

"Why not?"

"Simple, dobe. I hate you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "So tell me something I don't know."

"Done," Sasuke said airily, lifting up his sheet. Naruto scowled and scratched in a few more notes.

"What did you write?" He asked curiously.

Sasuke shrugged. "You want to hear?" Naruto nodded. Sasuke picked up his violin, examined his music, then started to play. The song wasn't a very happy song, Naruto thought, and the melancholy notes hung in the air and reverberated in Naruto's ears.

"…" Naruto fidgeted in his chair and wondered why he couldn't make his violin do what Sasuke's did. It was if Sasuke was making the violin talk; every stroke with the bow brought lament to Naruto's ears and the notes fell like teal and aquamarine colored glass tears, heavy with sadness and the weight of the world.(1) _All in all,_ Naruto thought, _that's a round about poetic way to say that Sasuke is freaking fantastic._

Naruto's music sounded empty and shallow. His notes carried no weight, they were like seamless, shapeless pieces of paper in the breeze. _Pointless notes,_ Naruto thought, _that really have no meaning at all. So in other words, I suck._

"Dobe," Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you okay? You're making faces."

Naruto scowled. "Of course I'm okay!" He complained. "I mean, just because you play music all super great and you won't tell me how doesn't mean I'm not okay!"

Sasuke blinked. "Okay then," He said slowly, turning back to his music.

Naruto shook himself and frowned at his music. "So are you coming over?"

"God, no, dobe!" Sasuke complained, exasperatedly.

"C'mon! You know you want to!"

"I do not."

"You do so! You want to come over to my house for the rest of the week, don't you?"

"Dobe. You aren't a Jedi. Don't try to use Jedi mind tricks on me."

"I hate you, Sasu-bastard!"

"Good, the feeling is mutual."

* * *

Sasuke seemed to be tolerating him more by the end of the day, so Naruto stuck around him, poking fun at Sasuke's hair (Sasuke was not amused) and trying to come up with another really good bear and rabbit joke. It wasn't really working, though, and Sasuke seemed annoyed with every failed punchline.

"Naruto." Sasuke said, after Naruto had asked for the fifth time whether Sasuke used Loreal 'because he's worth it'.

"Huh?"

"How about you shut up now?"

Naruto frowned. "That's not nice, Sasu-bastard." The two approached the front doors to the school, the big glass doors that Naruto had walked into more than five times since he'd started attending Konoha.

"You giving me a migraine isn't nice either, Naru-whore."

"Hey!"

"Look, just quiet down so I can thi…" Sasuke trailed off, his dark eyes narrowing slightly. Naruto observed him carefully before turning to look and see what made Sasuke's demeanor so dark.

There was someone out front… A tall someone, with a shock of silver hair… it was Kakashi! He was watching something in the parking lot. There was nothing strange about that. Naruto looked back at Sasuke. The boy was still watching intently, his eyes slits. Now Naruto couldn't help but stare at the door again.

A car… Kakashi was looking at a car. It looked almost exactly like Iruka's car… it even had the same nick in the side door. Was it Iruka?

The door opened on the other side, and the driver got out. Naruto smiled. It was Iruka! Had Iruka come to pick him up? That was nice of him. "Oh, it's Iruka," He said, happily. He started towards the door, but Sasuke grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

"It's weird." He muttered.

Naruto blinked. "What's weird?"

"…The way Kakashi looked… It's weird."

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke wrinkled his brow. "You didn't see the way he looked. Kakashi looked… nervous."

"Nervous? Kakashi? You know he only has two emotions… happy and pervy."

"Naruto! I'm serious!" Sasuke scolded. Naruto pouted.

"Kakashi has nothing to do with Iruka being here, so what's your problem?"

"…" Sasuke frowned. "Kakashi never stays after school for so long. He never does. He never looks nervous, and he never waits outside those doors. And…" Sasuke looked out the door again, "He's leaving."

Naruto looked too. Iruka was getting into the car. Kakashi was getting into the passenger seat. The doors closed. Naruto squinted, and could just make out movement inside the vehicle— shade veiled his view badly, plus the fact that he was beneath fluorescent lights. And then Iruka drove off.

Naruto stood and waited thoughtfully. Would Iruka come back? Probably not. How did _he_ know Iruka? And why wouldn't Iruka come pick Naruto up from school, knowing school was just getting out? Preposterous… and nothing like Iruka.

The strange thing was that Iruka had smiled. He smiled in the same way he used to when Naruto was smaller and just came in from the backyard with a treasure— a rock, a frog, anything he could get his hands on— and Naruto would shyly offer it to Iruka and say, ' 'coz I can't buy you nothin'.' Naruto hadn't ever seen that smile directed at anyone but himself for close to fourteen years. So… what exactly did that mean? Was Kakashi someone special to Iruka? And why did Iruka keep that a secret?

"…" Naruto blinked. "…He left me." He said, hollowly.

Sasuke frowned again.

"Why?" Naruto murmured. "Why didn't he come pick me up?" Sasuke turned his eyes to Naruto and was silent. "Sasuke…Why did he come for Kakashi? Why did they go off together? What's going on?"

"I don't have an answer…" Sasuke muttered. "All I know is that there's something…strange happening here." He kicked sullenly at the floor, turning away from Naruto.

"…" Naruto frowned. "Something strange going on, hm." He said to no one in particular. Sasuke looked at him and for a second, when their glances locked, everything went quiet and still.

"…I've got to go." Sasuke said, looking away first. His face was almost pinkish.

"…Yeah." Naruto said faintly. "…me too… I… have to catch the bus…" He frowned some, but didn't offer anymore conversation to Sasuke. He turned and shifted his bag on his shoulders, then headed for the door. He kept expecting Sasuke to say something more, but no words ever came.

But when the door closed behind him, Naruto swore he could have heard Sasuke curse loudly and storm off. Something was bothering Sasuke…

And it bothered Naruto too.

* * *

(1)- I write poetry, by the way, and one of my assignments for an English class I took was to describe music. It was incredibly tiresome, but this is part of what I came up with in about a half hour. So yeah, it does sound a little cliched and stupid, but I guess it fits the purpose here. I think. o0  



	24. In Which He Runs Away

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings: **_eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** Ugh... I broke up with my boyfriend and my mind's been in a slump. But, I finally felt better and wrote this chapter-- now all I have to do is STAY this way! It's a little short, but.. eh, I did my best for a person who was extremely pissed off, right?

Everyone thank you very much for your reviews, you're super special awesome! XD Yes, I've been watching LittleKuriboh's YGO abridged... There are great abridged series online, so your homework for today is 1) read; 2) review; 3)Watch YYH abridged by Lanipator. I swear he sounds just like Kuwabara!

Quick question... did I ever put up the link to the fan art I received? Yes? No? My memory is like a sieve, except with bigger holes and more Naruto.

The address is  
http(:)(//)haukie(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)art(slash)Orchestral(dash)Infatuation(dash)62518507

And the art is by our favorite person since sliced bread... **EllaCrain**! Yay! So if you're on DA, do give her a pat on the back and cookies for being cool enough to submit fanart to this lowly authoress that is I... and yes, I love fan art, so you can send me yours too- just PM me and stuff, I'll be happy to oblige.

Shameless advertising- DONE. On with the story!

o0o

**I**n **W**hich **H**e **R**uns **A**way

Naruto had spent a whole night thinking over what he'd seen. Iruka was cheerful at dinner, not even bothering Naruto about jumping Sasuke. What was the word Naruto was look for…? Suspicious! It was very suspicious.

Then there was Sasuke. Why had Sasuke gotten so angry when Naruto left…why did he curse? There was no point to it. What about what had happened made Sasuke angry… nothing had anything to do with him, never mind that there was nothing to get angry over… or was there?

In homeroom, Naruto was quiet, trying to figure out everything in his mind. Sakura gave him an odd look, but said nothing.

There was another mystery… Sakura. The pretty bubblegum haired teen was going out with Lee, but they hardly interacted. In fact, she seemed enamored with Sasuke more than Lee— and he was sure no one knew that she and Lee were dating. Only in private was she different— she knew something that he didn't, Sasuke confided in her. Today was Tuesday… perhaps he could weasel some information about the two of them via People Watching? He wasn't sure if he'd like what he'd find.

"What's wrong with you today, Naruto?" Ino laughed. "You look like you're actually thinking!"

Naruto plastered a grin on his face. "I was!" He said. "It's a great prank I'm going to pull on Sasu-bastard!"

"Nice job tipping him off," Ino observed, and Naruto rolled his eyes at her, but took a sidelong glance at Sasuke. His companion looked like he hadn't been interrupted, so Naruto turned back to Ino. They chatted about a movie that just came out recently until the bell rung for homeroom to start.

* * *

Shikamaru was in charge of People Watching that day, as Jiraya had a 'super important meeting to go to' (Naruto was sure that his 'super important meeting' had to do with the new onsen house about two or three miles away from school. Just a wild guess.).

"Go do something." Shikamaru said, and then he flopped on the ground and proceeded to close his eyes and go to sleep.

"Hey!" One of the new freshman members complained. "Is that it? We don't have a meeting or something?"

"Oh, we have a meeting." Kiba grinned. "All new members have to pass a test." Suddenly a bunch of upperclassmen members got an evil twinkle in their eyes.

"For real?" Another new freshman participant asked.

"No, not for real," Said member of the club. "They're lying."

"Well, now you have to take the test too," Grinned a junior. "Any other objections?"

Naruto hightailed it towards the school before he could be given this 'test' which was sounding more and more sinister with every grin that spread over his comrades' faces (except for Shikamaru, who even frowned in his sleep).

Once in the building, Naruto went to his usual haunt— the Student Council office. Sasuke had mentioned in class that day that Naruto stalked that office like his life depended on it, but Naruto justified his quasi-stalking of Sasuke by convincing himself that this was the only surefire way to get information about Sasuke from Sasuke. Sasuke must've remembered that conversation, because the door to the office was closed.

Naruto was fully prepared for this though. He grinned to himself and quietly turned the handle and opened the door a crack. Years of sneaking into Iruka's room to find his birthday gift had given him this ultimate ninja's technique…

"…to tell him so yesterday." Sakura was saying.

"No." Sasuke said, sounding quite stubborn.

"But why not?"

"Number one, I told you what happened. Number two, we should be focusing on our work. Number three, it's not going to happen. And number four, stop telling me what to do!"

"None of that answers my question." Sakura teased lightly. "Look, it's not like he's here listening, right? So you can tell me what you were going to tell Itachi, alright?"

"For the last time, nothing." Sasuke complained indignantly. "And that isn't what this is about."

"I want to know why you chickened out and didn't tell him the truth Sasuke… you know he'll only keep doing what he's doing if you don't at least"

"You know just as well as I do that _Itachi doesn't care_." Sasuke said harshly. "Ignorance is bliss."

"Don't spout clichés," Sakura said. "He used to care. The old Itachi has to be in there somewhere, right? Buried underneath all that anger."

"The old Itachi is dead. I don't have a brother anymore. I have a nightmare." Sasuke deadpanned. "And I'd appreciate it if we switched subject."

"But I"

"I _said_ I'd appreciate it."

Sakura sighed. "So what about Naruto?"

A long pause, and then Sasuke said, "What about him?"

Sakura sighed. "Well? Have you made up with him yet?" She giggled. "You're blushing."

"I don't blush!" Naruto quietly snorted. _You do so._ he thought.

"Well? Have you?"

"…" Sasuke sighed. "I couldn't."

"Couldn't?"

"Yesterday… it wasn't a good time."

"Why not?"

"It just… it wasn't a good time. That's all."

Another silence. Naruto nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Was that what Sasuke was mad about yesterday? Or was it something else? What did he have to tell Itachi? Why hadn't he told him yet?

"You're worse than a girl, Sasuke." Sakura sighed. "I mean, if you"

"Ssh!" Sasuke hissed. "Don't even think about it."

"It's obvious that Naruto's worried about you. The least you can do is show him common courtesy."

"I've told him not to worry."

"You only make it worse!"

"I do not."

"Yes you do! Poor Naruto is worried sick and you just say, 'Don't worry I'm fine' while you're covered in bruises and cuts!" Sakura said quite dramatically.

"What are you doing?" said a familiar drawl loudly, and Naruto jumped about a foot and a half. "Eavesdropping, Naruto? That's beneath you."

"Sh-Shut up, Kaida!" he hissed.

"And after all the time Iruka spent drilling etiquette into your head." Kaida shook her head, then sent a sinister grin his way. Sakura poked her head out the door.

"Naruto were you—Oh, hi, Kaida! Nice to see you!"

"Hi," Kaida said, with a slight nod at Sakura. Naruto glared at her.

"What do you want?" He snarled.

"Just passing by." Kaida said, a smirk playing at her lips. "I stayed after for a little extra help. Does that bother you?"

"Do you have to scare me out of my mind all the time?"

"…It is fun…" Kaida nodded. Then she sent a green eyed gaze past Naruto to Sasuke, who had just sauntered out of the Student Government Office. "Uchiha." She greeted.

"Kiyohiko." He nodded.

Kaida flicked her eyes to Naruto, and her demeanor turned serious. "Did you see Iruka yesterday, Naruto?" She asked, with a slight frown. Naruto tensed. Kaida noticed, and her eyes slightly widened. "You did, didn't you? Suzuka was worried…"

"Suzuka was worried?" Naruto asked, growing even more stiff. "What are you talking about? Why was she worried?"

Kaida sighed and groaned, raising her hand to the back of her head. "You saw Iruka here, right? With someone else?" Kaida didn't wait for a response. "I guarantee that the someone else…is Iruka's significant other."

Naruto blinked. "…K…Ka…" He started. Kaida clapped her hand over his mouth and rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say the name specifically because Iruka's a wimp, and doesn't want people to know, but you saw, didn't you? So you know."

Naruto shot a glance to Sasuke, who was look quite calm and collected, and Sakura, who was looking very confused. "Mm!" He objected.

Kaida removed her hand. "What?"

"Can…Can you…" Naruto twiddled his fingers. "Do you know anything else about it?"

"I know enough." Kaida nodded. "Come on." She nodded quickly at Sakura and Sasuke, Sakura looking a little confused and Sasuke looking bored, and started off, Naruto quickly following after. "Here's what I know," Kaida explained as she turned the corner. "…I know that Iruka has been seeing someone… since when you started school."

"Seeing someone?" Naruto spluttered. "But…but that's impossible! He always has work!"

"Don't you think it's possible to lie, Naruto?" Kaida rolled her eyes. "Honestly, the _naivety_."

"Why would Iruka lie to me?"

"There are hundreds of reasons to lie to you Naruto." Kaida pointed out. "You're not exactly the easiest person to break news to."

"I am?"

"Sure." Kaida snorted. "I mean, take for example when I told you the truth about the people in your town…You ran away. When you were smaller you'd kick and bite if we told you stuff you didn't want to hear. You hate punishment for things that you believe you can't control, when it's you orchestrating those same things the whole entire time. Face it, Naruto…" She glared at him. "You're nothing more than a spoiled brat."

"I am not!"

Kaida grinned. "Yeah, you're a little better than a spoiled brat." She said, decisively. "But only a little. You have your moments, so it's hard to decide what to tell you."

"So Iruka didn't tell me because he thought I'd run away?"

"He probably thought you'd over think."

"Over think?"

"You do it a lot. You think about things that should be simple way too much." Kaida shrugged. "The only things you've taken for face value are numbers, really. Everything else, you seem to want to dig out a nugget of truth from, even if it's clear as day. You befuddle everything that way."

"No I don't!"

"And," She continued, "You jump to conclusions. You don't explore alternatives. To you, there's only one logical answer to every question, and that's the one you over think… you explore so deeply into one situation that you believe it, and it warps your whole mindset."

"You…You…" Naruto stuttered, and then he snarled, "How would _you_ know anything, Kaida? That's not what happened at all?"

"So? What did you think when you saw Iruka yesterday?" Kaida asked. "What did you think when you got home?"

Naruto fidgeted. "I was suspicious… that's all." Kaida's green eyes bore into him; the emerald colored orbs catching his sapphire ones and holding them defiantly.

"You didn't think, for example, that Iruka might have just been taking your orchestra teacher out to coffee? Maybe he just wanted to talk about your progress?"

Naruto blinked. "Wh-what?" Kaida took a step forward, towards him.

"Or did you jump to the conclusion that there was something wrong, and from there, you continued to think something was suspicious," Another step, "So that when I told you what I knew today… everything clicked?"

"…" Naruto stared. "Ka…Kaida…"

"I'm right, aren't I, Naruto?" She said, her sinister grin growing wide on her face. "You did just that. You saw Iruka, jumped to a conclusion, mulled that conclusion over, and then added my information to it." She reached out and poked his forehead. "And that leads us to now."

"Kaida…" Naruto clenched his fists, "Who are you to tell me"

"I," Kaida interrupted, "am an open-minded, clear thinking junior who happens to know more about your own situation that you do." Naruto took a step away from her. "Oh. I almost forgot." She smiled again. "You can run away now, Naruto." Naruto stared into her eyes for a little longer, trying to figure out everything in his head once more.

_Is she lying?_ He asked himself. _Is it all true? Would Kaida lie to me about this, or would Iruka… would Iruka…_ Kaida started chuckling, turning away.

"And so begins the vicious circle," She said, starting down the hallway.

"Kaida!" Naruto yelled after her. She looked over her shoulder, her dark grin still pasted there. "Iruka wouldn't lie to me!"

She laughed again. "I hope you're absolutely sure of that." Came the cryptic response. "I wouldn't want your feelings to be hurt." And then she went and turned a corner, and Naruto was all alone.

It took him twenty steps to the front door of the school, plus sixty to reach the bus stop, where he paid one dollar and fifty cents with two dimes, six nickels, and a dollar bill, and sixty-six steps to reach home.

But it only took one step to run away.


	25. In Which Hiding Is The Only Solution

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**Warnings: **_eventual_ yaoi (I'm sorry, it might take me a couple chapters to get to the yaoiness you all love and cherish), OC who does not hook up with any of the series characters but shows her face from time to time, AU, and some OOCness that I'm apologizing for in advance. And language.

**A/N:** This chapter makes me sort of mad, because it could've been SO much better, but it isn't. But yeah, I have no creative juice, and my next vacation from coding is in... uh... four weeks. And I'm not really into waiting four more weeks to replenish my creative juice, so I was like, "eh, what the hell, why not." And this came out! ergh! If it doesn't make sense, yes, I know it was badly written, and no, the next chapter won't be and retarded as this one. Hooray!

Thank you all very much for your reviews. They're super special awesome. And of course for favoriting this story or me (GO YOU!) or having story alerts or anything of that nature. : D

o0o

**I**n** W**hich **H**iding** I**s **T**he** O**nly **S**olution

Naruto didn't know where he was. He could've known, but he was too busy thinking about what Kaida had said.

He knew Kaida wouldn't lie to him about serious matters. She wasn't a liar, not when things were grave. When push came to shove, she could be really truthful… completely trustworthy.

Then again, Kaida had never searched him out to tell him anything. Ever. She did know he stayed after on Tuesdays for the People Watching Club, didn't she? Kaida would never talk to him, Sakura, and Sasuke, then drag him off to talk, would she?

But she had. Could Naruto believe what she said?

How did she know about yesterday? How could she have known and even known how he went about thinking about what he'd seen— how?! Naruto had known that the dark haired girl was smart, but… it was baffling! Did she know him that well? Or was this all just for spite...just because Kaida didn't want him thinking they were friends or something...

Who was lying to him? Kaida or Iruka? Why would they lie to him? Didn't they like him? God, it burned, it burned so badly to be lied to. Not that it hadn't happened before...

Naruto plunked down on a bench and looked around. He'd never been to this part of the city before...even if it was his hometown, he didn't stray very far from the downtown area and home. Right now, he wasn't sure what area he was in, just that there were a lot of buildings and a lot of trees.

Iruka and Kakashi. Naruto rolled it over in his head. Wasn't Kakashi straight-- never mind Iruka-- Kakashi had to be straight... he read porn!

_Uh, hello...gay porn..._ Naruto thought suddenly. _Does Kakashi read gay porn?_ Then he punched himself in the leg. "I'm not even going to think about it!" he decided aloud.

"Think about what?" asked a very familiar voice. Naruto jumped a foot and whirled around.

"Neji!" He cried. The gray-eyed boy nodded slightly, but then curiously asked again:

"What don't you want to think about?" Neji set down his clarinet on the bench and sat down next to Naruto, who immediately sat up straighter. Something about the way Neji carried himself made Naruto think of an adult-- someone who had it all together all the time. He wondered if Neji had ever been childish. It was almost unimaginable... gray eyes pored over him, silent and awaiting an answer Naruto didn't have and couldn't give.

"It's uh... nothing." Naruto grinned. "So what are you doing here? Do you live here?"

Neji frowned. "I don't live here." He said. "Some distant relatives of mine live here." He eyed Naruto. "It's not the best part of town. What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." Naruto blinked. "I.. nothing."

Neji frowned deeper. "I don't believe that." He said coolly. "I don't believe you're here for nothing."

"What? Why not?" Naruto pouted.

Neji frowned. "You're not a good liar." He murmured.

"I'm not?"

"Not at all." Neji said. "You're awful at it." He frowned again. "So what's on your mind?"

"...You know Kiyohiko, right?"

"Kiyohiko? Yes."

"What do you think of her?"

Neji looked out into the park at some kids playing. "She's sort of..." He drifted off, looking slightly confused. "She's alright, I suppose." He said, finally. "She's tempermental and she can be edgy. But she knows what she's talking about, and she knows what she wants."

"Do you think she's truthful?"

"Yeah." Neji said. "I worked with her once last year. She's just as truthful as anyone else."

Naruto blinked. "Do you like her?"

Neji shrugged. "I don't know her that well. Why all the questions?"

"...Kaida told me something today. I don't know if I should believe it or not. She said... she said..." Naruto felt a little self-concious. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" Neji gave him a look, and Naruto sighed. "She said I was spoiled."

Neji just looked at him. "You came out here because of that?" He rose an eyebrow. "You're lying again."

"I'm not."

"There's something more, isn't there... something else Kaida told you that you're not comfortable with." Neji looked away. "You wouldn't come out here because of an insult. I think I know you well enough to say you're stronger than that."

"Stronger..." Naruto repeated softly. "Me?" He shuffled his feet.

Neji nodded. Naruto uncomfortably looked at his hands until Neji cleared his throat. "My cousin." He said, abruptly. "Not Hinata, but my distant cousin lives here." He paused. "His name is Haku."

"Haku?"

"Yes. You and Haku are similar. Not personality wise, but... in that you're both very secretive." Neji frowned. "So people have to know you very well to understand that something is wrong with you." Naruto stared at Neji, surprised. "Haku recently lost his eyesight." Neji offered suddenly. "And it occurred to me that I haven't seen him in a while. But..." Neji frowned. "He's very important to me. When I was younger, he made me feel... human."

"Human?" Naruto asked. "What does that mean?"

Neji shook his head. "I used to play my clarinet all the time. I'm from the branch family of the Hyuugas... we only have a set of jobs we're allowed to work in. Hinata... Hinata is part of the main branch. She's able to do a lot of things, and she chose music." Neji sighed, his hand running over his clarinet case. "I was young. I had to prove somehow, at the time, that I was better than Hinata was. Although I loved her very much, I wanted to prove that the branch family could be better than the main family. I played the clarinet everyday..." a pause.

"Then what?" Naruto prompted.

"Well, I became very proficient..." Neji said. "And I was somewhat proud of myself. But in that time I'd grown... stony. That's how Haku put it when we first met."

"Stony." Naruto murmured.

"I didn't like Haku very much. He isn't like Kaida at all, but they're sort of similar too... Blunt would be the best word. He doesn't care if you're uncomfortable with hearing things, he'll tell them to you..." Neji sighed. "He would tell me things I didn't want to hear. Like that no matter how hard I tried, I could never be a part of the main family. Like the fact that I'd become so unattached to people that it was a burden to talk to me sometimes." Neji sighed. "I hated him, when I was young."

"You don't hate him anymore?" Naruto asked.

"Well..." Neji sighed again. "It took some time to build up the courage to overcome it. But Haku has this male nurse Zabuza... He's not really a nurse. He's more like Haku's guardian." Neji hesitated. "He told me about Haku's real family, the one that had been killed. He's not a Hyuuga, really..." Another pause. "In any case, Zabuza was hired to watch over him. It was something that my mother's family argued about very much. Zabuza isn't very trustworthy, but for some strange reason, Haku trusted him. Zabuza was the one who told me that maybe Haku didn't have any other choice in how he acted. He said that Haku's world might have been destroyed the day his parents died... That his world was no longer a spectrum of colors, but just black and white. Things are what they seem to be."

"So... so Haku only... tells it like he sees it?" Naruto queried.

Neji nodded. "Exactly. Haku doesn't say things to be mean. He says them because he sees them and believes that they're true. And sometimes they are, and other times they're not. He's not a sage, but he's not dumb either." Neji looked at Naruto. "Kaida is something like that. She is capable of differenciating, but sometimes it's just easier for her to tell it like she sees it. With her own additive sarcasm, of course."

"But what does that mean? Is she right?" Naruto asked.

"You tell me. Do you think you're spoiled?"

"I'm not... I mean, I'm sort of spoiled... I...Well, I do run away a lot... but ... Iruka wouldn't lie to me, right?"

"He's human." Neji said, his eyes wandering off. "Humans are prone to lie."

"But Iruka is..." Naruto frowned. "But if he has lied to me all this time, why? Why did he lie to me all this time?"

"He's just like you." Neji said. "Scared."

"I'm not scared!"

"Then what are you doing here?" Naruto fell silent. "You're afraid that the truth won't be what you want to hear. You know he's lying. You put that together yourself." Neji looked back at him. "You knew all along that there was something going on. But it took you this long to come face to face with it, and now you don't want to take it by the horns and own it."

"But...But..."

"I understand that you want to believe that Iruka isn't lying to you." Neji said gently. "But you need to come to terms with the fact that everyone has their secrets, and there are always things that you will never tell someone... even if it means making someone you trust very much upset. You can't because you're afraid, and you're afraid because you think it'll change the way someone views you or destroy a friendship...Don't you have something like that, Naruto?"

_Sasuke..._ Naruto thought, closing his eyes tightly. "I...I think so."

"If you think Iruka's secret hurts you, you shouldn't run away from it." Neji said. "You should go up to him and ask him why he'd deliberately hurt you. Because he must known that it would hurt you eventually... Don't you think?"

"I..." Naruto murmured. "I think Iruka... I think Iruka cheated." He blurted. "I think Iruka got me into Konoha. I don't think I got in on my own..."

"Why is that?" Neji prompted.

"Because Iruka's friends with Kakashi..." Naruto murmured, dropping his eyes to the ground. "Kaida said they were more than friends."

"But do you believe that?"

"I believe that there's something going on... but I don't know what. It's been happening for a while... and I just ignored it."

Neji nodded. "So." He said raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing now?"

"I'm... I'm not helping myself at all!" Naruto slammed his hand on his knee. "All I do is run away. But I don't want things to change, Neji, I really don't!"

"But they have changed already." Neji pointed out. "Before, you knew, but you turned a blind eye to Iruka's behavior. And now, now you're hearing things that you need clarified. If you run away from this, don't you think Iruka's going to continue lying to you? Don't you think you'll end up depressed?"

"I don't want anything to change." Naruto said sullenly.

"Unfortunately," Neji said, rising up off the bench and starting off towards some buildings, "Change has already begun."

* * *

It was very dark when Naruto got home. Iruka had left the lights on and Naruto could see him pacing in the living room. Spitefully, he thought, _Serves you right._ and then immediately thought, _Why would you lie to me?_

He looked down the road. Gaara's house was right down that way... he could easily turn and walk away. He could easily pretend nothing had happened. He could do that. It would be easy... just steps. Twenty steps, thirty steps, did the number matter at all if it meant he wouldn't have to deal with this situation?

Neji had said that Iruka must have known, as some point, that his secret would hurt Naruto. He said that Iruka was deliberately hurting him. But what would Neji know about Iruka? Nothing. He knew nothing. He just assumed, based on the information that Naruto had given him...

Naruto had assumed, based on the information given to him, that there was something wrong. He took one step forward.

It was high time he made that something right again.


	26. In Which Naruto Must Figure It Out

**Title: **Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehmenti

**A/N:** Okay, don't get severely pissed off, but my writing style has probably changed in the god knows how long I haven't updated this. And maybe you're wondering why I'm updating now. That would be because I randomly got a spark. Not a very good one, because I disapprove of this chapter, but I can't imagine the spark ever coming back, what with the world of pain that college is. : D

Yes, I am continuing this. Until I wind this down to it's painful finish, if you're patient, which, if you're anything like me, you're not. I will eventually finish, because I really want to get this yaoi thing out of my head. xD

**I**n **W**hich **N**aruto **M**ust **F**igure **I**t **O**ut **O**n **H**is **O**wn

Temari always said weird things, so Naruto had learned to ignore most, if not all, of her useless advice, when she gave it. But today, some of her stupid advice pealed, like lighting, through his mind as he opened his front door. _One step forward means a thousand steps back._

What the hell did that mean? Naruto had spent a good hour asking Gaara about Temari's advice once, and the answer that Gaara came up with, most likely to shut Naruto up, was _Probably means exactly what you think it means._

Which was what, exactly? Did Temari even stop to consider what a 'thousand' was? It was ten times one hundred-- that's ten hundreds. Why would anyone take that many steps back from ONE measly step forward? Of course, Naruto had gone though countless thoughts. Perhaps it was just that this happened while you stood on ice? Maybe? But that couldn't be it, since appearently physics disagreed with that. So if there was no logical way, then Temari had lied.

_But,_ Naruto wondered, _how many steps would he have to take backwards before he could go forward? Two? Three?_ "Steps" wasn't even the way that Naruto preferred to put it, because if one was going to be all mysterious, the LEAST they could do was be mysterious but have a god damned purpose. "Steps" wasn't a good choice of words, because Naruto always took steps forward and didn't end up in freaking China when he did. What would be a better choice of words?

_Actually, the question is, what the hell are you doing standing here pondering Temari's dumb advice? When has that ever helped you at all?_ and Naruto was forced to agree with himself, because mysterious phrases like that were just meant to psyche you out so that later you realized that they meant nothing and that you'd been had. So he walked into the house.

But he paused and realized something. Kaida had said...that he reached one conclusion that was logical, and then he stuck by it, even if it was wrong. Maybe...maybe he was wrong about Temari's advice too? But how did one take a thousand steps backward?

"Naruto?" Iruka's voice. Pain, anger, worry-- everything that Naruto was pretty sure had always been etched into Iruka's voice, even when he was 'happy', which was to say, not yelling at Naruto. Most of the time, actually.

He struggled to decide what to do. Turn and run a thousand steps, or face Iruka head on?

Head on, Naruto thought, would be the better choice, because a thousand steps in any direction may or may not get him lost. So he rose his shaky voice. "Yeah?"

Iruka rushed over, and there was a weird internal-external war where he didn't seem sure whether to hug Naruto, cry, or possibly punch his face in, so he settled on reprimanding him and hugging him so tightly Naruto possibly saw God.

"Don't ever...Don't ever do that again." Iruka mumbled into Naruto's hair. "do you have any idea how worried I was? you ran away for no reason...I thought..."

Naruto was still in sort of a daze, half because he could have been choked to death, but half because he'd really expected Iruka to punch him in the face.

"I...ah..." Naruto became acutely aware of his heart beat, Iruka's heart beat, the ticking of Iruka's watch, the smell of some weird cologne that Iruka sometimes wore, the amount of cars passing their house, and the pitterpattering of a mouse in the house that Iruka probably hadn't sufficently screamed at yet (_because that,_ Naruto thought wryly, _gets them out of the house Iruka. For sure._) "I ran away...because..."

Iruka pulled away, looking Naruto over with an expectant look. _A thousand steps back,_ Temari's voice said, and Naruto swallowed.

"I ran away because I was afraid Kaida would have told you."

"Told me what?" Iruka asked.

Naruto didn't know where he was going with this lie. "That I.. hate you."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "You pretty much yell it everytime I ground you, but you certainly don't act like you hate me. I wouldn't have believed her."

"...I thought you lied to me." Naruto managed truthfully, "But...she said maybe...maybe I..." he stopped. "It's my fault." He said, finally. "I thought that...I thought that you got me into school. It made so much sense! It was the only logical conclusion!"

"Since when have you been interested in the logical conclusion to anything, Naruto?" Iruka wondered, looking very perplexed. "What brought this on?"

"It...It was when you picked up Kakashi that day. You picked him up, but you didn't pick me up. You forgot me."

"..." Iruka's face went pale, ashen. He stared at Naruto and then weakly said, "Yes... that day..."

"I thought at first... maybe you'd come back. But then you drove away and I saw your smile and I knew I had to take the bus home. But then... why would you smile at anyone like that? Only if you...only if you loved them!" Naruto grew stronger every second. "Only if you loved them...you loved Kakashi, you love Kakashi! So...you have some sort of authority over him, right? If you ask for something and plead hard enough, you'll get it, right? So...So maybe you had begged Kakashi to get me into school. Maybe he'd told you that I sucked terribly and you had given up hope and pleaded with him to let me in!" Naruto could feel his voice detaching from him, because he hadn't meant to say anything like that. "Maybe...but it's all speculation...because you...you wouldn't lie to me, right?" Naruto managed weakly. "You wouldn't forget me, would you?"

Iruka firmly grasped Naruto's shoulders. "I would never lie to you." He said. "So I have to tell you the absolute truth. When you took your exams...I...I was very worried. I spoke at length with Suzuka, and she assured me that you would succeed." Iruka frowned. "But... you barely passed the exam to get into the school. I was worried.. I went to talk to Kakashi."

"You told me you 'ran into him'."

"That...That's not necessarily true. I was looking for him... but when I found him, I'd already given up." Iruka looked Naruto in the eye. "I asked him how you did?"

"And?"

"He said that you were good, but not orchestra material..." Iruka looked downcast, "but then he looked at me and said, 'But he's got some talent for memorization, doesn't he?' and I...I told him."

"You told him what?"

"I told him about your old violin teacher. Don't you remember what he used to say to you?"

Naruto scowled, "Yeah, he'd say, "Mon dieu, your hair eez very blond"."

"...uh, no, not that." Iruka mumbled. "He always said, "Even though sometimes you play badly, you are always on time. How do you play the wrong notes always at the right time?" He once commented to me that he thought you were just memorizing the numbers and the tempo, not the music."

"Oh." Naruto said.

"Kakashi looked at me for a long time, afterward. He asked me if you did that often, so I said yes, because, you know... you do, right?" Iruka looked at Naruto, who nodded. "When I answered, he asked me to drive him to school, and when we reached, he wrote a letter of recommendation for the orchestra right away. Then... the school agreed to have you transferred in, and I came home with the letter."

"..." Naruto stared at him. "That's... that's what happened?"

"That's everything?"

"The car?" Naruto asked.

"...I didn't forget you." Iruka said. "I could never forget you. But..." Iruka looked upset. "There are somethings that I can't readily tell you, you understand?"

Naruto looked at Iruka. "Oh my god!" He yelped. "You didn't!"

Iruka looked confused. "Didn't...what?"

"You bumped uglies, didn't you?! You did! You did!" Naruto crowed, tearing away from Iruka.

"Bumped ugli..._What_?!" Iruka's face turned so red Naruto was certain he could fry an egg on it. "Are you out of your mind"

"And you did it in the car?! I'm never riding around in that car again! Eww!!"

"Naruto!"


	27. In Which Sasuke Should've Just Left

**Title:** Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress: **Ira Vehementi

**A/N:** Well, to my immediate displeasure, I had to write most of this in italics because it's a flashback, and it might not make too much sense, but! This is the best I can do. I think. Maybe. Argh, don't ask questions! But there's a lot of fuck in this chapter. Not fuck, like, fuck but... like the word fuck. Fuck, you'll know when you get there, I'm just adding fuck to fuck now. Fuck, what does that mean?! ...fuck. Just ignore this, I'm tired. and it's sort of funny. But not. D :

Anyway, thanks for the reviews, they made me happy. I don't know why I'm mentioning that they made me happy... because I mean, it's not like I'm going to be pissed off that you're reviewing or something. Actually, I'd be even happier and less confused (most likely) if you got more people to read my story (see: shameless advertising).

Okay, okay, I'm done. For now. The chapter awaits, and I'm going to go find something to eat so that when I decide to write again, my tank isn't on empty.

**I**n **W**hich **S**asuke **P**robably **S**hould've **J**ust **L**eft (**S**eriously)

It was one thing to like someone who wasn't a stuck up ice princess with a glacier up their ass. Because usually-- most of the time-- those people would be nice enough that it was okay that you liked them like that. Which of course, was nice, especially if that person liked you back. Then you could go out, and you know, be happy. Most people. Most.

_The bell rang, and Kiba had pretty much finished rattling off his next set of dates with Hinata, which included things like, 'long moonlit strolls on the beach' and 'hot dance parties' which Shikamaru was snickering at, surprisingly enough, and Chouji was questioning ("But would Hinata really want to have sex with you if you're in the middle of an itimate relationship with Akamaru?" he asked, and Naruto laughed so hard he cried while Kiba snarled something about having bastards for friends and that one day he'd sic Akamaru on Chouji's never-ending supply of chips). Naruto sidled into homeroom, finding the Sasuke fan club by his desk, like always. Ino nearly ripped out his eyebrows (also like always) when he shoved through them to sit down, and then once he did, everyone was back to being semi-nice to him while oogling Sasuke (which was also pretty much like always unless Sakura was actually being serious)._

_So it was a good morning. A really, really good morning._

But if you happened to be stuck with an ice princess, if for some reason you found yourself in love with, say Sasuke Uchiha, well, then you had to deal with mood swings and PMSing and the name calling and the public humiliation and pretty much all the bad things about relationships that seriously were really hard to deal with when you were kind, awesome, and fucking hot (see Naruto).

_"Dobe." Sasuke didn't look very pleased this morning, and Naruto_ had _to take advantage of that._

_"Yes, Sasu-bastard?" He sing-songed._

_"If you don't play this piece correctly, I will end you." Sasuke snarled, and Naruto pouted. The orchestra was being pretty noisy, since Kakashi had given them new music and then vanished to 'read up a little bit on his sociology'. So Sasuke couldn't have possibly hear him miss the fifth measure completely._

_"I'm playing it right, so what's your problem?"_

_"You missed the fifth measure. AGAIN. It's throwing me off, so either shut up or"_

_"Maybe it's you who's missing the fifth measure?"_

_"Me?!" Sasuke asked, looking alarmed, as if Naruto had suggested that Sasuke was a ninja with eyes that turned red and copied people's techniques (not that a power like that could exist in any lifetime). "Miss a verse?"_

_"Yes, because I'm playing it right!" Naruto said, frowning when Sasuke put his violin down and seemed to be calming down. "See, I bet you realize it now, right? That you've been-- oof!"_

_Sasuke had punched him in the stomach, and that pretty much shut up the orchestra. "I. Do Not. Mess. Up." He snarled at Naruto._

_"Was that necessary?!" Naruto whined. "What is WRONG with you? God fucking Jesus Christ balls!"_

_Sasuke just went back to being emo and bitchy and PMS-y for the rest of Orchestra._

And it was COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION to tell said ice princess ANYTHING about how you felt for them. You know, outside of 'I hate you' or 'You're a bastard' (because that really meant 'I love you' and 'You're the most androygenous man I've ever seen in my life. Ever. Seriously.'). Beacuse they weren't supposed to know. It was supposed to be one of those secret things, the kind of thing that you wrote in a diary and then when you died, people would read about it, but couldn't judge you, because you were already gone. That sort of thing. But of course, no. No, the universe hated Naruto far too much to wait until he died to let his secret out.

_"Dude, you're bleeding again." Kiba mentioned, as Naruto picked out a new ramen flavor for lunch._

_"Naw, you think?"_

_"What the hell did you do to Sasuke, anyway? I mean, I've never EVER seen ANYONE dropkick someone down two flights of stairs. Gotta give him kudos for that."_

_Naruto waved one his arms about frantically. "That's the thing! He's just being bitchy and annoying!"_

_Kiba rose an eyebrow. "I think we've been over this, but __**that's how Sasuke is**__." He nodded sagely. "In fact, if you look in a dictionary, I'm pretty sure bitchy means Sasuke Uchiha."_

_"Yeah, and dumbass means Kiba." Naruto scowled._

_"Hey!" Kiba scowled too. "It's not MY fault that kid's got issues. I mean, have you even asked what's wrong?"_

_"Of course I've asked. That's how I got this black eye. and the next time I asked, I found myself falling down a stairwell. and the next time I asked I was throwing up in the bathroom. and the next time I asked"_

_"You do NOT give up." Kiba interrupted. He paid for their lunches, shaking his head. "After that much abuse, I mean, I would just fucking... leave him alone."_

_"Yeah, but he punched me!"_

_"Why didn't you punch him back?" Kiba asked. "You always punch me back. You better not be getting soft!"_

_Naruto scowled. "I can't punch him back."_

_"You can't? What are you talking about? It's not like he was pinning you down or something." Kiba looked genuinely concerned. "Actually, I heard something today in math. You want to know?"_

_"What?"_

_"I heard that Sasuke was missing all of last night. That he was wearing the same clothes from yesterday today."_

_"Kiba, maybe you haven't noticed, but... the school... we sort of... have a uniform."_

_"Yeah, but seriously, it's just like, 'wear sensible clothing' and 'no bare midriffs' and 'don't stick your penis in people's ears' and stuff." Kiba waved his hand around nonchalantly._

_Naruto stared at Kiba. "I'm just going to ignore you now."_

_"No, no, seriously though! You know I say weird suff when I'm nervous!" Naruto scoffed and Kiba rolled his eyes. "Anyway...The person I heard this from said his clothes were bloody and stuff. Maybe he got into a fight? Maybe that's why he's in such a bad mood?" Kiba sat down at an empty table, and Naruto sat down too, wincing from one of his previous Sasuke wounds._

_"A fight? with who?"_

_"Really, how the hell am I supposed to know. I only heard this. And it's just gossip."_

_"Well, do you think it's true?"_

_Kiba scratched his nose. "Well, it's not like I look closely at him all the time or anything, but his hair is all messed up today."_

_Naruto thought back to homeroom. Sasuke's hair? It had looked a little less like the rear end of a duck... "But his face is fine. Who gets into a fight and doesn't get punched in the face? That's the first place I'd hit. You know, like right in the eye."_

_"Maybe he was fighting a really small kid. Or a monkey. Or a leprachaun."_

_"Could you be serious?"_

_"I am serious, they get pissed off when you take their Lucky Charms."_

_Naruto groaned._

And that, Naruto decided, was why everything that happened to him today was bad. Very very bad. Terrible. Awful. Worse than that. Because of COURSE Sasuke had to piss him off so much that he did something that just was not supposed to be done. Ever. And if he'd just gone away, it he'd just fucking NOT been there, then the day would've been flawless. Which wasn't. No siree, Bob.

It was good enough that Naruto wasn't beating the crap out of himself (although he was thinking and not counting, which was never a good sign), but it was bad enough that he was thinking and not counting, which was never a good sign, and also repeating himself and thinking things in the wrong places, if that even made any sense.

_"Well, today we're making curry," Sakura had assumed the role of head chef of team seven today. Naruto was busy scowling and being generally annoyed at Sasuke who was staring off at god knows what._

_"What kind of curry?" Naruto feigned interest._

_"Hmm... well, it says, make a healthy curry. It gives us pointers, you know, but Shizune is expecting us to make a curry as a team. I bet it's supposed to symbolize us as a group or something." Sakura shrugged, appearently not noticing the black mood over Sasuke and Naruto. "Well, I'll go check out the different types of curry. Shizune brought a lot of books today!"_

_"Wait, Sakura!" Naruto called after her, but she was gone, and now Naruto was left alone with Sasuke 'I will beat you the fuck up' Uchiha._

_**Someone please kill me.**__ Naruto thought, and then he glanced at Sasuke and added, __**but don't let it be him.**_

_So they sat in silence, until Naruto inched away from Sasuke to be on the safe side and asked, "So... did you get into a fight or something?"_

_Sasuke blinked. At first he kept staring into space, but then he said, "No." He said it so abruptly that Naruto wasn't even sure what he was saying no for, since it had been just about a full minute since he'd posed the question._

_"What happened?" Naruto asked._

_Sasuke glowered at him. "Shut up, dobe."_

_"What did I fucking do?" Naruto scowled. "You know, normal people don't beat up on their best friends when they're mad."_

_Sasuke just muttered "hmph" and glared off again, and Naruto crossed his arms and frowned at Sasuke._

_"So why's your hair all messed up?"_

_"Dobe." It was Sasuke's 'I'm warning you; your death is imminent' voice. The one Naruto was used to ignoring, although today, Naruto didn't know whether it was safe to push it._

_But what was life without adventure, and possibly another black eye? "Teme?"_

_But Sasuke didn't do anything. He just stared at Naruto, still being all pms-y and bitchy and annoying and all those things that Sasuke was when he was teed off. And when Sakura came back, talking about shrimp curry and rice and whatnot, Naruto was more than happy to not be an annoyance and help her while staying as far away from Sasuke as possible._

Without Iruka home to bug him, Naruto had to keep repeating the last part of the day over and over again in his head. Stupid Sasuke. Stupid Sasuke and his stupid anger. Stupid, stupid, stupid. And now he had to put on all those bandages himself, and every bandage kept reminding him of what happened. The little one under his eye. The big one he had to use on his back. The medium sized patch he had to use to stop his cheek from swelling. Stupid fucking Sasuke.

_"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Naruto yelled, and Sasuke just glared at him and tried to close the bathroom door, but Naruto seriously wasn't going to let him get away with being a pain in the ass all day. "Fuck! Open the door!"_

_"No." Sasuke scowled._

_"What, is that your favorite word today? Open the god damn door or I swear to fucking God, I will fucking kill you."_

_"No."_

_But Naruto finally managed, amid yelling and weird looks, to shove his way into the bathroom. "I'm going to miss my god damned bus because of you!" He growled at Sasuke, who leaned forward, right into Naruto's face, and said:_

_"Then maybe you should've gone to the fucking bus stop."_

_And Naruto saw red. Well, he saw Sasuke. And red. At the same time. he punched Sasuke in the face, and Sasuke, in a split second, snapped back and punched Naruto in the nose._

_Was his nose broken? He didn't know. He was numb, and all he could feel was this burning desire to get his hands on Sasuke and crush every speck of life in the irritable boy._

_He punched again, harder, Sasuke's cheek this time, and recieved a slam to his ear (he'd turned his head before Sasuke could get his eye for the second time that day), and retaliated by splitting Sasuke's lip with another punch._

_He didn't know who jumped who, who pushed who down, who landed on their back and who landed on top, all he remembered was rolling off of Sasuke, exhausted._

_"Fuck." Sasuke breathed._

_"Yeah. Fuck." Naruto agreed. They were panting hard, and Naruto finally was feeling hurt-- his eyes, his sides, his back, everywhere-- and when he looked over at Sasuke, he wasn't faring too well either. It felt good. Sasuke turned his head, staring at Naruto now._

_"...Why?" He muttered finally._

_"Why?" Naruto asked, and he sighed. "Why what?"_

_"...you screwed everything up," Sasuke scowled. "why'd you even have to show up?"_

_Naruto frowned. "The hell are you talking about?" He muttered. "This is all your fault. All your fault." That anger was returning, eating at him._

_"My fault?!" Sasuke had that dangerous edge to his voice again._

_"Yeah, if you weren't such a bastard, we wouldn't be here. You screwed everything up!"_

_Sasuke looked murderous. "And what exactly did I screw up?"_

_Naruto sent a withering glare right back. "It's your fault. First I come here and you're all annoying and tricky, and then we're sort of friends, and then, and THEN" Naruto took a deep breath, "and then..."_

_"And then what, dobe?" Sasuke snarled._

_"And then you fucking... I don't know what you fucking did, but then everything changed and I didn't mind you being a fucking insane mother fucker so much, and then you go and do this?! And then you blame it on me?! what the fuck did I ever do to you anyway? I was always nice to you even though you're fucking mentally insane!"_

_Sasuke said nothing for a long time, but his eyes weren't as evil as before, and he actually looked normal (outside of the split lip and black eye and swollen cheek and al the other abrasions that he's gotten rolling around on the bathroom floor with Naruto). "I didn't do anything." He said, and Naruto turned his head away and stared up at the ceiling._

_"Yes you did." He said loudly. Then he proceeded to count the ceiling tiles until Sasuke spoke._

_"Well, what did I do?"_

_"I don't know, okay? It just happened one day. You and your... your..."_

_"My what?" Sasuke asked. Naruto just said nothing, and they were quiet for a little while. "Well?" Sasuke asked._

_Naruto looked back at him. Sasuke was still pretty, and it was because he was pretty...Well, not pretty, but... maybe pretty was the only was to put it, because he looked like a girl. A girl with a split lip and blood running from her eyebrow to the floor, a black eye and a nose bleed. Naruto giggled, positive that Sasuke looked worse than he did. "You look hideous." He told Sasuke, who rose his eyebrow._

_"What, and you think you're the shining example of perfection? You look worse than me."_

_"Me?" Naruto couldn't stop giggling. Sasuke smiled too, and suddenly they were both laughing and it was really, really weird. But funny. And weird. Mostly weird._

_And maybe it was that weirdness that made Naruto get up and actually wash his face off before looking in the mirror and laughing again, because he was a mess too. Sasuke washed his face, but he was preening, or whatever it ws that girly boys did when they realized that they didn't look presentable, but when Naruto started laughing, he stifled a laugh too, maybe because it was still sort of werid that they'd been fighting in the first place._

_Naruto didn't know what exactly to preen, so he just leaned against the stall wall nearby him and watched Sasuke fuss over his face for a little while, and then Sasuke was done, even though he hadn't really done anything and was still leaking blood everywhere (not that Naruto wasn't). Then they were just looking at each other. Looking, and Naruto didn't even know what he was looking for. Sasuke seemed sort of impatient, like he was waiting for something to happen. And Naruto, he was sort of waiting for Sasuke to say something. Or laugh. But now the room was stifling and quiet._

_It seemed like an eternity, but Sasuke moved, finally. He turned and he started to leave and Naruto had to rush after him. The janitors looked at them like they'd quite honestly grown boobs on their foreheads, but they kept walking. Out of the school, out of the schoolyard..._

_"Sasuke?" Naruto asked._

_"What?"_

_Naruto didn't really know what he wanted to ask or say, but Sasuke turned and Naruto really, really, really wanted to kiss him. Really badly. "Uh... can I...um..."_

_"No, you can't come to my house." Sasuke scowled at him._

_"No! I mean... Ah... Do you like me?" Naruto blurted. And then he was going to cover his mouth with his hand or something equally as teenage girlish, but the pain that shot through his arm seriously prevented it._

_"Do I like you, dobe?" Sasuke asked, his eyebrow raised._

Naruto could hear the front door opening again, and he wondered what Iruka would do when he saw him. Other than freak out, because he was bound to do that. Maybe he'd just freak out, shake his head, and walk off? No, that was wishful thinking. Definitely wishful thinking. What else could he do? Well, he definitely wasn't going to hug Naruto or anything, because there was just no way Iruka could hug him without reopening some wound or something. Maybe he'd yell? Or cry? Or call Kakashi?

Should he be worried? And what was Sasuke doing? Was he wondering these same things? Was he thinkg about Naruto? That was sort of exciting to think about. Took his mind off of Iruka freaking out for about three seconds, because he wondered what Iruka would do if he knew what happened. Probably freak out.

_They were staring at each other. "...What if I do like you?" Sasuke said, suddenly doing something that looked like-- was Sasuke POUTING?-- and looked away._

_"Um..." Naruto was flustered, nervous. But he really needed to kiss Sasuke right now. Because Sasuke was HIS right now. Right now, this was HIS Sasuke, and if he didn't claim it, then someone else would come along and take him, and... well, that would be very bad. "Sasuke?"_

_Sasuke looked at him again, no longer pouting, but frowning. Cutely._

_So Naruto swallowed whatever pride he had left, which was a considerable amount, considering that he'd just owned Sasuke in a battle royale, grabbed Sasuke's hand and yanked him none too gently, until their noses nearly bumped and then Naruto crushed their lips together, and Sasuke's lip started bleeding again._

_Sasuke was struggling now, not even slightly strong enough to push Naruto off or away, maybe because his lip was bleeding (and looking back, this was gross), so Naruto licked the blood away. It tasted metallic, just like his own blood did. Sasuke didn't gasp or try to say anything, but he was either so dumbfounded that he couldn't struggle any more or he was so angry that he was being extra super pliable, becausewhen Naruto's tongue pushed between Sasuke's lips, there was no resistance. When Naruto brsuhed against Sasuke's tongue, there was no movement. When he searched Sasuke's mouth, Sasuke suddenly pushed him away. He was shaking, not like it was cold, but more like he was so angry he couldn't keep it in. It didn't matter. Naruto was happy. Even if it was one sided, he'd kissed Sasuke, so Sasuke was his._

_"...mine." He mumbled, and Sasuke looked at him like he'd grown another head. Maybe it was fear that was keeping him silent, but Naruto smiled at him and said, "Right?"_

_"Huh?" Sasuke asked, oh-so-eloquently._

_"You're mine." Naruto repeated, and Sasuke looked surprised. But he didn't say anything, and Naruto laughed, repeating it again, louder. "You're mine, Sasuke!" He chuckled, and then he saw one of the late buses and ran to the bus stop. When he'd paid for his ticket and gotten to his seat and looked out the window, Sasuke was still staring at him, looking for all intents and purposes, like he'd been hit by a train, a bus, and a girl on a tricycle in sucession. And as the bus drove away, Naruto whispered, "Mine."_

Yep, and now he was at home. Dreading school. Dreading Iruka, who still hadn't come into the bathroom and found Naruto with scratches on his back and black and blue bruises on his arms. Although it wouldn't be long. Probably. Maybe.

"Naruto?" Iruka called, and Naruto sighed and yelled back:

"What?"

"Oh, you're home!" He sounded cheerful, and was getting closer. "Are you using the bathroom?"

"No, not really," Naruto replied. He wondered where his Sasuke was. He wondered why he was so calm right now. He also wondered about where the third toothbrush had come from.

"Can I come in?" Iruka asked. "Oh, I invited a guest over, someone you probably wanted to talk" Iruka opened the door and fell silent. They stared at each other for a full minute. "NARUTO, WHAT HAPPENED?!"


	28. In Which Kaida Keeps Getting Involved

**Title:** Orchestral Infatuation

**Authoress:** Ira Vehementi

**A/N:** This has nothing to do with the story. Not the chapter, just this part of the A/N. for those of you who don't just immediately bypass it like, "Fuck her, that piece of lazy shit (haha, I know you don't think that. Right? D :)" The other day, yesterday in fact, I was thinking that I should change my name on here from Ira Vehementi to something else, although I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do that. Anyway, So I was trying to think of suitable new pennames, but I kept thinking, 'Nothing works outside of 'With Violent Anger' because it's TRUE'. I'm not a fan of lying, and if I change my name it would end up like, 'Dances with sugar cubes' or something. I mean, I'm nice, but I'm not like, THAT nice. But Dances with Sugar Cubes? No suh.

Okay, about this chapter. Please don't complain about the lack of Sasuke or something. I had to get some stuff out here, and I wanted it out sooner rather than later. Besides, my style seems to be to just drag people along for the ride, appearently. D : That annoys me. Sorry guys. I don't mean to do that.

Oh, and thanks for your reviews, as always! A story without reviews is like Kool-Aid without sugar!

**I**n **W**hich **K**aida **K**eeps **G**etting **I**nvolved

Naruto walked into homeroom feeling great. So he looked like shit, okay, yeah, but... he felt fantastic. Yesterday he hadn't been so hot, kissing Sasuke hadn't really registered until after the fact, way after the fact (actually, it had registered this morning while he was brushing his teeth, and he nearly swallowed his toothbrush), but today? Today he walked into homeroom knowing he'd done something none of the girls had ever done. He'd kissed Sasuke. Sasuke's first kiss! Wait, was it Sasuke's first kiss? Had he been kissed before?

Today, the girls were over by Naruto's desk, sobbing about how Sasuke still looked beautiful, and that he shouldn't be upset or something dumb like that. When Naruto sidled over, Ino was the first to turn around, notice him, and pretty much yell 'SIC 'IM, GIRLS' and Naruto found himself running out of homeroom into the hall, with a crowd of angry females after him.

"What did I do?" He howled, skidding around a corner and taking off down another hall.

"It's obvious!" That was Ino alright, leading this pack of harpies. "You beat up Sasuke-kun! Death! Death!" Naruto hadn't even seen Sasuke, and if he looked that bad, then he must've known that this was going to happen and did it to himself!

"Why me?!" Naruto cried, and then he collided with someone. His face was smushed in between two very soft...

"Listen, Naruto, you have two seconds, TWO, to get your face out of my chest. Two." Kaida snarled, and Naruto backed up, waving his hands around wildly.

"Kaida! I didn't-- I wasn't-- See, they were" He stuttered, but Kaida glared at him and he shut up, and then she glared at the pack of screaming girls and they quieted down to a dull roar.

"So." She said, getting up and dusting herself off. "For some reason, unbeknownst to me, you guys decide to ruin my morning?" Naruto could practically feel the rage ebbing off of Kaida. No, this wasn't a good morning to fall face first into her boobs (and as far as Naruto was concerned, it was never, ever a good morning, afternoon, evening, or afterlife to fall face first into her boobs. Ever.).

"K-Kaida?" A girl murmured.

Kaida cracked her knuckles. "No, it's okay. I was already pissed off, you guys just get to be the scapegoats." She advanced towards the group, and they took off, probably going back to homeroom. Naruto tried to crawl off, but Kaida grabbed his collar. "Where do you think you're going?"

Naruto twiddled his fingers. "Oh, I thought I'd go, ah, you know, um..."

Kaida tossed him into her homeroom and slammed the door behind her. The people inside pretty much ignored this (probably because Kaida was always in a bad mood, Naruto reasoned). But Naruto recognized Shikamaru in the corner sleeping. Shikamaru could save him!

"Shikamaru!" Naruto piped up, and the boy raised his head slightly, looked at Naruto, looked at Kaida, and lowered his head. _Way to help a guy!_ Naruto inwardly wailed.

Kaida crossed her arms and glared at Naruto. "What the hell's wrong with your face, Naruto? Can't you put bandages on correctly?" She dragged him to the desk next to Shikamaru, where Naruto stared, dumbfounded, as she pulled a first-aid kit out of her bag. "Jeez. You got beat something fierce too, and you didn't put any ointment or anything on."

"Wh-wh...you're not gonna beat me up?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not a bully. I'm just having a really, REALLY bad day. Really." Kaida scowled. "Last thing I need is that mob of screaming idiots. And now I don't even have a Vitamin Water or anything to drink. You know how annoying that is? Really, really annoying." She gently put some stinging stuff on his face.

"Ow!" Naruto whimpered. This happened over and over again, and Naruto continued to whine until Kaida got fed up.

"Oh, quit your whining." Kaida frowned. "So what the hell happened to you?"

"Um..." Naruto wasn't sure what to say. Was Kaida ever kind to people? Maybe he was dreaming. No, in his dreams, Kaida was a vampire. Maybe he was hallucinating! Must've been all that toothpaste he swallowed that morning, yeah, that was it.

"Ah, never mind. Probably got beat up by a third grader." Kaida muttered. "Insufferable brat." She continued.

"Bet it was Sasuke," Shikamaru said suddenly, though it was muffled by his arm.

Kaida paused. "Sasuke? Any particular reason, Shikamaru, or is it just because you're getting one of those feelings?" She smirked, looking at Shikamaru, who finally sat up and leaned back in his chair.

Shikamaru shrugged. "They were fighting yesterday." Kaida looked back at Naruto, then rolled her eyes.

"No surprise there." She retorted, reaching into her bag and taking some make-up out. she tried a color on Naruto's wrist, nodded, and brushed his face with it.

"Probably something stupid," Shikamaru said, staring out the window.

"You think?" Kaida scowled. "Figures. Boys and their hormones."

Naruto scowled as Kaida finished fixing up his face. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your hormones." Kaida said. "I don't know what the hell you were fighting about, but boys are like animals. Even Shikamaru. He's like a freaking sloth."

"Thanks for your opinion." Shikamaru muttered.

"You're welcome. Anyway, what could you possibly be fighting over? Either you're both in love with someone and you want them, or you're in love with each other and you don't know how to admit it because you're boys, and boys just can't talk things out like civilized people. And girls aren't civilized people, since half of them are mindless sacks of nerve endings and stickers and ponies and shit. That's how people are." She held up a mirror. "What do you think?"

Naruto looked at his face. Kaida made him look a lot better than he had this morning! "Wow... thanks." He said, startled.

"Yeah, just don't go around telling people I do nice things." Kaida scowled. "And go buy me a Vitamin Water."

Naruto blinked. "Hey... are you...are you friends with Shikamaru?" He asked, confused.

"What?" Kaida blinked. She looked confused. "Why does that even matter? Sure, yeah, whatever. We talk. We're partners in physics lab. Happy?"

Naruto stared. "But isn't everyone afraid of you?"

"Afraid? Of me? No, you're just talking about your idiot friends. That one who eats dog food or whatever? I told him I'd beat him up. Maybe I actually did? Dunno." She looked at her watch. "Go get me that Vitamin Water or you'll be late to homeroom."

Naruto looked from Kaida to Shikamaru, then tore out of the homeroom. He didn't even buy the Vitamin Water (mostly out of fear that Kaida would beat him up after the fact, especially if he didn't buy the right flavor. You never knew with that girl.).

But he couldn't talk to Sasuke in homeroom, because of the evil glares that all the girls were tossing at him. Especially Ino, who kept mouthing _You. Me. Afterschool._ At least Sakura looked apologetic, and Naruto prayed to the almighty god of ramen that she would quell the anger of the other girls. The ramen god could do anything, after all.

He did admire his handiwork, briefly though, since all the girls were being evil, and noted that Sasuke's cheek was puffy. That was all he really got to see, and when homeroom ended, Sasuke practically warped to Orchestra, leaving Naruto with Kiba, who took one looked at Sasuke's face as Sasuke sped through the hallway, then high-fived Naruto and spent their walk to ORchestra talking about how Naruto was his hero.

The first person Naruto ran into in Orchestra was Tenten, who gave him a wary _Stay far away from Ino_ look. "Hey, Naruto." She said kindly, and then Haru and Haruka came out of nowhere.

"Did you see?" Haru asked, excitedly.

"Did you see it?" Haruka squealed.

"See what?" Naruto asked, wondering what they could possibly be so excited about.

"Sasuke's face!" Haru whispered. "Hey, you...Naruto, did you..."

Haruka blinked. "Oh, no way! YOU beat Sasuke like that?" she smiled. "I know it seems mean, but... nice job!"

Haru grinned. "Yeah, Sasuke's face never looked that bad! I might actually have a shot with a girl for a while!"

"No way, Haru. He's still really, really pretty." Haruka chuckled.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "For two people who are supposed to be so nice, you guys are mean." She commented.

Haruka just grinned. "So, Naruto, why'd you do it? Was it because he was beating you up yesterday and you got pissed off?"

"Probably," Kiba rolled his eyes. "Sasuke thinks he can get away with anything."

Naruto just scratched his head and let them talk until the bell rang, and then carefully went to his seat (who knew what booby traps an angry Sasuke could lay better than Naruto, after all?).

Kakashi hadn't shown up yet, so Naruto ambled away from Sasuke (who was making a point to ignore Naruto's entire existance) and went over to Shikamaru. And that was hard, because after admiring Sasuke's face, he wanted to talk to him. Or at least ask him questions. Like, was that your first kiss? Or, did you like being kissed by me? Or...Well, it didn't matter. But Sasuke was being all quiet and ignoring him, so Naruto figured he might as well get another mystery cleared up. It was really bugging him that Kaida had friends, friends who happened to be his friends. Because Kaida was evil. Wasn't she? Anyway, Shikamaru could clear it up.

"Shikamaru," Naruto shook Shikamaru's shoulder and the lazy boy looked up, blinking sleepily. _How could someone who sleeps so much always look so sleepy?_

"What?" Shikamaru muttered, starting to put his clarinet together. Naruto wondered how late Shikamaru would've pushed if he hadn't come over, but Neji would've probably woken him up or something.

"Um... about this morning." Naruto said, and then he paused. What was he going to say?

Shikamaru yawned. "She fixed your face up pretty good." He said.

"Uh, yeah." Naruto mumbled.

Shikamaru observed him, then said, "What is it?"

"It's just, Kaida's evil! Evil!"

He blinked. "Kaida?" Shikamaru asked. "...No, not Kaida. She's just..." Shikamaru shrugged, appearently too lazy for words.

"What do you mean?" Naruto wailed. "She's never been that nice!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Look." He said finally. "Kaida's pretty laid back, as far as people are concerned." Shikamaru leaned forward, picking through his messy music folder. "I've known Kaida since she was a kid. We're the same age. She's always been nice. Just you know, not really nice."

"You mean that?" Naruto gaped. "You've known her since she was small? Really?"

"Lives in my neighborhood. Went to my school." Shikamaru shrugged. "She didn't nag me about working with her when we were in groups together. She stopped people from bullying Chouji. She's just agressively nice. Sort of like tough love."

"But...but..." Naruto blinked. "Isn't she like, scary?"

"Sure, if you don't know that she's nice, I guess." Shikamaru mumbled. "Keeps all the troublesome people away though."

Naruto frowned. "So she's not mad about...what happened?"

"Oh, she grumbled about that for a while." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You probably shouldn't stuff your face into her boobs from now on."

"I didn't!" Naruto yelped. "I fell over!"

"Yeah, right into her boobs." Shikamaru smirked. Naruto scowled, but then brightened up immediately.

"You're friends though, right? Maybe you should go out with her and then she won't be so scary?"

Shikamaru just stared at him, then grumbled, "What do I need a troublesome relationship for?" Naruto chuckled and went back to his seat.

Just like Kaida'd made his face look alright, Sasuke's face looked pretty good too. There were still bandages on his face though, and it looked like he wouldn't be able to comfortably play the violin today with such a messed up cheek. He almost reached out to touch it, but Sasuke shifted, looking at him.

"What, dobe?" He said, finally, and Naruto blinked.

"Um!" He smiled brightly. "Nothing! You look better."

Sasuke smirked. "I liked how you looked this morning a lot better." He said. "It proved that I won."

"Yeah?" Naruto smirked. "Well, that's okay, think what you want. You're mine," He nodded, "and we'll fight again. And I'll win. Again."

Sasuke scowled. "What was that about, anyway?" He grumbled, looking away. "Stupid dobe. You don't do that to people."

"Yeah, well, you liked it."

"I did nothing." Sasuke objected, and Naruto had to agree, Sasuke really didn't do anything.

"But that's the whole point," Naruto grinned, a thought popping into his head. "You didn't do anything."

Sasuke frowned at him. "..." His eyes narrowed, and Naruto decided now would be a great time to shut up.

* * *

Today was People Watching Day, and even though Kiba whined and complained and wheedled, Naruto convinced him that stalking Hinata wasn't the best boyfriend behavior, and that he should help him spy on Sasuke, claiming the boy had a plan to beat him up for yesterday, and he needed Kiba's genius to thwart it (and Kiba fell for it, even knowing that he didn't have any genius at all. Naruto had to pinch himself to keep from laughing.).

But after Sakura caught them outside the student council door and yelled at them, she calmed down enough to ask, "Who are you looking for, anyway?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, as Kiba rubbed one of the areas where Sakura had punched him.

"Sasuke? Or Kiyohiko?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms. "I mean, Kiyohiko came here to borrow Sasuke. And I warned her about your people watching!"

"This must be one heck of an evil plan!" Kibasaid, apologetically. "Sorry man, if Kiyohiko's in on it, then you're as good as gone."

"Oh shut up." Naruto scowled. Then he regarded Sakura again, who looked like she was ready to do another beat down. "I need to see Sasuke. And I'm not people watching him!"

Sakura frowned. "I think he's in the music room. He said he'd be back after he went somewhere with Kiyohiko. It happened a lot last year, so I just let it slide."

Naruto blinked. "What happened a lot last year?"

"Kiyohiko borrowing Sasuke, duh." Sakura rolled her eyes. "It's probably because he's so..." She seemed to be drifting off into that girly mood that she was in when Naruto came into homeroom. Which reminded him, Sakura was dating someone, wasn't she? Was this an act, or did she not like her boyfriend?

"Yeah, okay, I'll deal with you later." Naruto scowled at her when she started highlighting all the great things about Sasuke, disregarding his personality completely. He dragged Kiba off.

"You're choking me, man! C'mon!" Kiba cried. When Naruto let go of his collar and apologized (with his fingers crossed) Kiba nodded and then asked, "Do you think something's going on between Sasuke and Kiyohiko?"

"...No." Naruto suddenly worried. _Kaida's been 'borrowing' Sasuke since last year? What does that mean? _Kiba had been chatting, but Naruto hadn't been listening. His worries kept him from doing that, he needed to know if Sasuke was... if he was actually...

"Hey, we're here!" Kiba stage whispered. "C'mon! Let's see what they're up to!"

Sasuke was on piano and Kaida was singing. Naruto had never heard Kaida sing before, although he recognized the song. Something by Christina Agulera... Walk Away, he thought. _Well, I guess that's better than a love ballad. Wait, is this a love ballad?_

Kaida was finishing the song, and Sasuke's piano playing was dwindling off. Then there was silence, where Kaida looked exhausted and Sasuke was staring at the piano keys as if there was something really interesting there.

"Sorry I bothered you." Kaida said, finally, moving. It looked like she was going for her bookbag.

"That's alright." Sasuke murmured. Naruto noticed that Sasuke was twitchy- since when did THE Sasuke Uchiha twitch? Something must have been going on. "Kiyohiko." Sasuke said, suddenly.

"Kaida." Kaida corrected. "And what is it?"

"Um, You fixed up Naruto this morning, right?"

Kaida put on her evil voice. "Oh, yes. And he was barely bruised."

"He was?" Sasuke asked, looking up, his face strangely passive.

"If you want to beat up Naruto..." Kaida laughed, "You better just ask me to do it. You punch like a girl, appearently. He didn't even flinch when I fixed up his cheek. Didn't even whine once. Figures you had to hide all your bruises, you must've been beat the hell up."

Kiba blinked at Naruto. "Whoa, really?" He grinned. "Nice going dude!" He whispered.

Naruto blinked, then smiled. "Yeah." He nodded. _She's lying? For me? I must've swallowed a LOT of toothpaste._

Sasuke frowned. "Did he tell you about the fight?"

"Naruto? Tell me things? What is wrong with you?" Kaida said, in her nicer voice, the one Naruto had heard all morning. Honestly, he hadn't known she had a nice voice. And Kiba must've been surprised, since he was busy gaping at the door instead of writing. Naruto had to kick him back into action. "Just because Naruto's a little more comfortable around me than most people are, it doesn't mean that I'm his security blanket. How are you doing? Are your brother's friends showing up around the school gates anymore?"

"No." Sasuke said.

"Psh, good. Honestly, what would I have done if they came back? I'm not that good of bodyguard. They're huge. You were just lucky Vincent showed up that day."' Kaida sighed. "But I won't let them bully you while you're on the grounds. I'd rather them beat me up instead. I probably deserve it."

"You?" Sasuke scoffed. "You wouldn't let them beat you up. You're too noisy for that."

"Hmph. Leave it to an Uchiha to find fault with the nice things people have to say." Kaida snorted. "Anyway, about this fight. Was there something important about it that you wanted me to know?"

"No. I was just wondering who won in his story."

"You were wondering, huh." Kaida said flatly, turning towards the piano. "Something must've happened. Maybe I'll just weasel it out of Naruto. Are you planning on getting him back for winning?"

"He didn't win!"

"Well, he didn't come to school hiding his bruises. Only you did. A winner doesn't have to hide, I say." Kaida shrugged. "But... I know it was Naruto who beat you up, in any case. That's part of why I called you out here. Just to be sure."

"What, you mean because he was beat up too?" Sasuke asked.

"No." Kaida crossed her arms. "It's that your face was beat up."

"My face?"

"Yeah. You're pretty," Kaida said, as if that didn't matter, "So most people would be hesitant to hit your face. It's like a girl's. But Naruto strikes eye for eye. I'd know." Kaida sighed. "I think I beat the crap out of him last year." Naruto scoffed quietly. She had beaten him up pretty good last year. It was after that incident with Sai... If Naruto could remember correctly, it was because he'd been sulking around. What had Kaida said? _"Well, screw you if you think you're going to sit and pout while I'm trying to teach you math! Fine, you want to cry? I'll give you something to cry about, then maybe Iruka'll tell me to wait until you're done mourning so we can get on with this math!"_

"You think you did?"

"Well, what, do you expect me to keep track of all the people I beat up? I don't have a day planner for this, you know." Kiba rolled his eyes and mouthed _"Because she beats up everyone."_

"Any reason why you'd beat him up?"

Kaida scowled. "It's none of your business." Sasuke was quiet. Kaida impatently tapped her foot, something Suzuka always referred to as 'un-ladylike' and 'extremely Sonic-ish'. Sonic the Hedgehog was Suzuka's favorite game series. "Are we done?"

"No one's bugged him since he got here." Sasuke said. "Not like all the rest of us." Naruto looked at Kiba, mouthing, _"What does he mean?"_

Kiba scowled. _"They prank newbies."_ He mouthed back. _"We had an assembly on it before you came."_

"Well, the seniors this year aren't partiicularly cruel." Kaida said, looking thoughtful. "But that's where I come in. Anyone who wants to beat Naruto up has to go through me. Although he probably wouldn't tell me if he got beat up. He'd think I'd just beat him up some more. Why, you miss special treatment?"

Sasuke chuckled, although it seemed pretty empty. "Sort of."

"Well, everyone wishes they had a badass for a bodyguard, I guess. But I told you, I can't help you outside of school, and no one bothers you here anymore, right? My work is done. Naruto, I give him the rest of the year. His dad is counting on me to take care of him. Just like you counted on me." Kaida suddenly softened. "I'd help you if I could, Sasuke." She said. "You know that. All I can do is"

"I know." Sasuke sighed. "I just wished I didn't have to deal with this sort of thing myself. It was nice to have you around."

Kaida laughed. "Did an Uchiha just use the word 'nice'?" she asked. "Something terrible must be coming this way. I should go."

"Okay." Sasuke flashed her a small smile.

"Thanks, Uchiha. For playing the piano." She nodded. Naruto inched away from the door, but he was too late, Kaida spotted the two of them as she opened the door.

"...Hey." she said, raising her hand and cracking her knuckles. "It's that dog food kid I think I've beaten up before." Kiba went screaming down the hall, and Naruto almost followed, but Kaida grabbed his collar again, for the second time that day. "Where do you think you're headed?"

Naruto gulped. "Well, see, I figured you guys were having a private conversation, you know, but I was worried you might try to take advantage of Sasuke during his time of weakness"

"Weakness, dobe?" Sasuke asked, walking out of the music room. Kaida grinned.

"You don't have to worry about your precious Sasuke." She chuckled. "I wouldn't beat him up." She paused. "What's that?" She let Naruto go, reaching for Kiba's forgotten notebook. "Hmm..." she leafed through it. "Looks like I'm going to have put dog food on my to-beat-up list."

Sasuke just sighed and walked off. "I'll tell Sakura we should keep the door locked. Keep him away, will you, Kiyohiko?"

"And what am I, your dog?" Kaida objected. "Fine. Naruto, you're with me. And tell dog food, when you see him next, I have his notebook and if he ever wants to see again without blinding pain rocketing though his skull, he'll forget everything he heard."

"What about me?"

"Oh, you've already forgotten." she said cheerily. "Haven't you?"

"Oh! Oh yeah! I mean, what are you talking about?" Naruto jumped at the chance to not get beat up. It wasn't like Kaida was incredibly strong, it was just that she always seemed to know where to hit you to make it hurt. And that was scary enough for Naruto. Plus, she did hit pretty hard for a girl.

She chuckled. "I'm kidding. Here." She handed the notebook back to Naruto. "Just, if Kiba says anything, I'm obligated to hurt him. Just so you know."

"...Okay." Naruto said, surprised. "...Kaida?"

"Hm?"

"What's going on between you and Sasuke?"

"Is that really important?" she asked, and her green eyes caught his blue ones. Naruto hadn't ever really looked her eye to eye before, but right now, he felt like he should've done that a long time ago. She had Suzuka's eyes, the kind ones that bore no judgement.

"sort of." Naruto said.

"..." she frowned. "I think...I think that's something you should talk about with Sasuke."

"You said his brother's friends. Why? Why his brother's friends? Sasuke hates talking about his brother. Please tell me. Does it have to do with... with how he's messed up?"

Kaida scowled. "What are you talking about?"

"Sasuke!" Naruto insisted. "He's messed up. Beat up, under his clothes!"

"Why did you undress him?" Kaida said obliquely, a sinister grin on her face. But her eyes were still kind, it was weird.

"I didn't. He undressed himself."

"Well this is becoming a full R-rated movie, isn't it?" She chuckled.

"No! I mean, not like that. He was changing the bandages in the bathroom."

"..." Kaida sighed. "It isn't my place to tell you anything, Naruto." She said, scowling again. "But I suppose I have to count on you right now."

"Huh?"

"You have to promise me." She said, shaking her finger at him, another Sonic-ism she had. "You have to promise me that you won't run away this time."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Promise." Kaida ordered.

"Okay. I promise."

"I'm in the business of telling it as I see it. Okay?" Kaida looked away. "When Sasuke came here, I knew something was wrong. At the time, there was a senior here... Kid was a total flake. Kisame? Something stupid like that. I don't know. But he had a vendetta for Sasuke." Kaida lowered her eyes. "Me, I've always been the kind of person who doesn't turn a blind eye. That's why my reputation is what it is. You know how much trouble I've been in? But I guess it's worth it, sometimes."

"You've been in trouble?"

"Naruto, I beat people up. Why wouldn't I get in trouble?" She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, this Kisame... When I saw he was out for Sasuke, I asked Sasuke about it. But Sasuke is Sasuke, you know, and he clammed up immediately." She hesitated. "So I acted for him."

"Acted for him?"

"...Me and Gaara aren't that different." She said, smiling suddenly. "Gaara acted for you, I acted for Sasuke." she grabbed his arm suddenly. "You aren't going to run away, right? You won't?"

"No. I won't." Naruto said, worriedly.

"The thing is that we both caused more trouble for the person we were trying to protect." Kaida sighed. "I got Kisame something fierce. Let me tell you..." she chuckled, "He was in a wheelchair the next day. They couldn't pin the crime on me, but I knew they knew."

Naruto stared. "Wh-what did you do?"

"He's bigger and stronger than me." She shrugged. "I used a metal baseball bat on his legs."

"You did what?!" Naruto cried.

She glowered at him. "Do you think Sasuke looks bad now?" She asked. "Where he's bruised? Sasuke used to always have to wear make up to school, because his face was so beat up. enough so that it wouldn't look noticable. But I'm not an idiot, and like I said, I tell it like I see it." Her face was stony. "Sasuke was mad at me for a few days. But his face healed up, and he didn't wear make up anymore. They'd stopped beating up on his face after I did that." She frowned. "Now they were trying to put me out of the picture."

"They?"

"...Itachi. That's his brother." Kaida blinked at Naruto. "They look alike. That's what I thought."

"Huh?"

"Sorry... that was kind of random, wasn't it? The 'they' I'm talking about... They're his friends. Itachi's, I mean. Itachi is like an empty vessel. He doesn't hit Sasuke, but he doesn't stop his friends from hitting him. And Sasuke, he's weak. Even if he doesn't think so." Kaida frowned. "But you're not weak, Naruto."

"I'm not?" Naruto stared at Kaida. Wasn't she the one who pretty much called him out and called him week? No more than two or so days ago? What was she talking about? "I thought you said"

"No. Sasuke's weakness, it comes from him hiding things. You're strong because you deal with things head on. Although the running away was probably counter productive. At least you let on that things bothered you, I guess. When Iruka told Suzuka you ran away a few days ago... Suzuka was really upset. She kept asking me what I'd said to you. She knew it was my fault, she always knows. Or at least, she knew it was my fault this time, because I came home all smug." Kaida sighed. "What was I going to tell her? I didn't say anything. I figured if you hadn't already learned your lesson, then I couldn't do anything for you."

"You don't want me to run away anymore. Is that it?"

"Not really. Look, you know the counting thing you do? That's way healthier than running away whenever things bother you."

"Yeah right." Naruto scowled. "It put me in the hospital."

"What, and running away from home isn't dangerous? Look, running away is way too weak for someone like you. Are you going to run away when your first child gets and F or something? That's baby behavior." Kaida crossed her arms. "The reason I told you this stuff is because you're the kind of person I think Sasuke should emulate. It's just, if you always run away, Sasuke won't emulate you. Even he sees that as a weakness. At least the counting means that you're standing your ground and getting yourself together."

"Sasuke... emulate me?" Naruto blinked. "_Me_? Why?"

Kaida sighed, walking off. "Come on." she called to him, and he followed. "I beat you up last year. Right? I can't remember what I beat you up for."

"Yeah." Naruto decided not to mention it. "Me neither."

"But you tried to get back at me." She chuckled. "That's why I like you, you know? Because if someone hurts you, you don't just forgive them and turn the other cheek all the time. That's weak."

"Isn't that what Suzuka says to do? She says it's the right thing."

"What's right about letting people walk all over you, Naruto? You expect me to sit back and relax when I get punched in the face?" Kaida furrowed her brows and looked particularly murderous. "Maybe I hold grudges, but you know what? I don't think that's too big of a deal. I won't be stepped on. I won't, not by anyone. That's how I live."

Naruto smiled. "That's cool, Kaida." He said honestly. "And this whole time I thought you were evil."

"Oh, you were right." She smirked at him. "Maybe not completely right. But right enough. I'm not the world's kindest girl. Not the meanest either." she paused. "Oh, so about Sasuke. He's not like me. Or you. If you hurt him, he'll be angry, you know? But he won't do anything. He doesn't lift a finger to stop people from hurting him. Or he DIDN'T anyway. After I beat up Kisame, he tried to hit me. but I really didn't see that happening." She smirked again. "Anyway, yeah, Itachi came with his friends. There's this creepy guy, Orochimaru... I'm worried that he's after Sasuke. But if it's off school grounds, I've got my hands tied."

"What do you mean? Why can't you fight him off school grounds?"

"Well one, I don't have 'people'. I just kick ass and look good doing it. Myself. My friends here aren't mean types. They're the people I've been fighting for this whole entire time. I can't ask them to back me up on something like this." She sighed. "And two, outside of school, I don't have a good enough reason to fight people. I have reasonable doubt, maybe, but you know... I don't have proof. If I go around beating up people without reasons, then... well, then I'd be a class A troublemaker instead of a class C troublemaker. As it is, Tsunade doesn't care that I beat up people."

"She doesn't?!" Naruto cried. "But, Kisame... you put him in a wheelchair!"

"Yeah, well..." Kaida smiled darkly. "I guess there are some crimes that are really rewards."

"Why is there this much bullying in school anyway?"

"It's all about status." Kaida pointed out. "There are limited seats in orchestras, limited seats in choirs, limited seats in bands... and especially the higher ups, the Advanced Orchestra, the Advanced Choir, the Advanced Band-- those are where things can get ugly. There's a lot of bullying going on right around you... that's because people want in on those seats. If they can get you to run away, then they've won. And that's why I'm telling you, you can't run away. You lose everything if you turn tail on these people."

"It's a fight over the orchestra?" Naruto said, surprised. "A fight over seats in the orchestra? Really?"

"Well it isn't just, 'oh let's beat up the new kid', if that's what you're wondering. Did you honestly think that everything here was hunky-dory? I mean, really." Kaida rolled her eyes. "Look, our school is nationally known. The Advanced Orchestra for example? One year they played the soundtrack for a movie. And they got paid. If you were to pursue musical arts, that would be pretty much the highlight of your pre-college career. Don't you think so?"

"...wow..." Naruto gasped. "What movie?"

"Um, it was something silly. Star Wars maybe?"

"REALLY?!"

"Nah, I'm just playing. I'm not in orchestra, but maybe the senior class rep knows? Neji? You should also ask him about bullying. He's pretty adamant on not letting it happen. It happened to him too, you know."

"Really?" Naruto asked, eyes wide. Neji being bullied... that was a new one. "Did you help Neji?"

"Neji? No. I mean, I would've but he's not weak. When he came here, he was on this perfection thing, I don't know... He was just a really annoying perfectionist, appearently. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that because he wanted his seat in the Advanced Orchestra so badly, he pretty much owned anyone who dared cross him... in other words, he wouldn't have needed me, even if I were here. You're a special case though. You've been in too much trouble already. Iruka would get pissed off to hear you're beating up people here. That's why it's good that you've got me." She smiled. "And I won't let anyone bully you. People here, they wouldn't even try."

"You're... protecting me?" Naruto asked. He frowned. "Why?"

"Naruto, after what you went through at home, what makes you think I'd let people alienate you here? There are some juniors afraid to look at you crosseyed." She chuckled. "Alot of people are vying for a spot in the advanced orchestra. A lot. That's why I'm protecting you, because I knew you would need a little help. Just like how Gaara protected you."

Naruto stared. "I didn't know. He said, pausing. Kaida turned to look at him. "I didn't know you were trying to help me."

"I wasn't trying. I was helping." She rolled her eyes. "Because it worked."

"Do my friends really like me? Or is that because you told them to like me?" Naruto asked. "I mean, you've got all this influencem right? Did you tell people to talk to me?"

"Does dog food look like he'd listen to me?" Kaida asked, crossing her arms. "Look. People know all I ever do is harm people who _intentionally_ go for you. I kill rumors at the source, I pretty much only hurt people who have the audacity to ruin your life to better theirs. Usually, those people are other violinists. I don't bother with people outside of violinists, really, when it comes to you. Especially the higher-ups in the Regular Orchestra. You know that Hiraku? He's a good friend of mine too. I asked him to be sure you weren't being jostled around in class." She sounded kind now. "Your friends like you, Naruto."

"What do you get out of this, anyway?"

"Haven't you ever actually spoken to Suzuka about me? I have bouts of anger. Lots of them." Kaida grinned. "I'd rather take them out on something breathing than on paper or on a punching bag." Naruto wondered if that was true. He knew that Kaida was VERY tempermental (he had thought once that she just had year-round PMS, and had even advised her to eat more zinc enriched foods(1), which resulted in him getting a nice punch to the stomach), but was that the reason why she helped people by harming other people? Why not be like a regular bully?

Naruto chuckled. "So you really are that angry all the time?"

"Eh, it comes and goes." She smiled. "I've never been too angry at you, I don't think. I've always understood."

"Understood what?" Naruto asked, frowning now.

"You. I always have understood you." Kaida looked at him, her face blank. "At least, I think I have. I've always understood why you'd do things. I couldn't stay angry at you for too long."

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Kaida?"

"Hm?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"As long as it isn't a confession of love, I'm all ears." Kaida inspected her fingernails.

Naruto made a face. "I would never." He said. She laughed.

"Sure you wouldn't." She said, turning her attention to him. "So what is it?"

"Yesterday, when I fought with Sasuke... I.. um..." Naruto twiddled his fingers, unsure. Did he want to tell Kaida this? Could he trust Kaida? A little voice in his mind kept saying _look at all she's done for you, she could continue to help you! She can help you save Sasuke! She can help you get rid of all those bruises!_ "I...I was thinking."

"You? Think? _Pshaw_." She scoffed.

"REALLY, Kaida!" Naruto whined. "I was thinking!"

"About what, dare I ask?" she chuckled. He glowered at her.

"Um... well..."

She made a face. "I've been getting a weird vibe from you and Sasuke today." She said. "I know something happened. So just tell me if you want to tell me. Does it have to do with what you were thinking about?"

"No." Naruto said firmly. "But... I mean, I was thinking."

"Well, I'm glad that your brain functions, but that's not what you wanted to tell me, was it?" She said, crossing her arms. "Do you want to tell me or don't you? Figure that out."

"You won't laugh?"

"I'll keep my giggles to a bare minimum." She said stoically. Naruto scowled.

"I don't think I'll tell you."

"Your loss." She smiled brightly, turning. "Anyway, I have to go."

"Where to?"

"Home, I have homework to do." She sighed, relaxing. Naruto hesitated, about to tell her what had happened but then, not able to form the words. Even if Kaida wanted to help, she'd just said that she couldn't. Even if she knew that he kissed Sasuke. Even if she knew that he liked Sasuke in a way he shouldn't. What could she do? She didn't have help, and she admitted already that she couldn't beat Sasuke's brother's friends alone. He wondered if Kaida ever regretted that.

She was watching him, her green eyes contemplative and still strangely kind. Did she always look like that? He didn't know. Maybe it was just that she was easy to hide behind that agressiveness he knew her for. The evil that Naruto was used to. He was sort of comfortable with a nice Kaida, sort of... but not completely. How many people had she 'saved'? And why? She seemed like someone who only looked out for herself. There were a lot of questions, more than Naruto could count right now, floating around in his head.

"Naruto." she said, quite seriously now. "I'm going to warn you."

"What?" He said. "about what?"

"Repeating any of this to anyone." She scowled. "That dog food kid. He's sort of in on this, and it's up to you to shut him up. Promise that you will."

"Sure, but his name is Kiba." Naruto grinned at her, and she blinked, then smirked, returning to the same evil girl he remembered.

"Whatever. Just tell him if doesn't want his balls forcibly removed through his anus, he'll find a neglected corner in his mind to store that information in. Tell him it's from yours truly." She laughed. "I'm gone."

Naruto watched her move along, and then called after her, "Thanks Kaida!"

She waved her hand. "Deuces."

* * *

(1)- More about Zinc: It probably won't help females when they PMS, but everytime anyone has a problem with ANYTHING,my docotr is like, "Hmm... you should eat more almonds and other zinc enriched foods, yes, yes, quite," and then strokes her beard. Okay, she doesn't say yes, yes, quite, and she doesn't stroke her beard (because she doesn't have one), but I figured I might as well stick that in there since I find it funny that a doctor would prescibe something that might not even solve the problem. : D You need zinc for a healthy immune system, to aid you when you get boo-boos or cuts (depending on your age, but if you still say boo-boos, you shouldn't be reading this story. FYI. Unless you're like, 15 and think it's cute. Then I don't know about that.), and other good things that you don't want to do without, like being able to smell things and taste things.


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